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BR  1700  .S84  1859 
Moses  and  the  prophets 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 

'      NOV      6    2002 


THEOLCn'''- 


vARY 


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AND 
THE 


FATHEES  &  MARTYRS 


COMPRISING 

AN   ACCOUNT  OF  THE   PATRIARCHS   AND   PROPHETS;    THE   INCARNATION,  CRUCI- 
FIXION, AND   ASCENSION   OF  THE  SAVIOUR   OP    THE  WORLD  ;    THE  LIVES  AND 
LABORS   OF   THE    APOSTLES,  AND    PRIMITIVE   FATHERS    OF   THE    CHURCH' 
AND   THE    SUFFERINGS   OF  MARTYRS,    WHO   GAVE   UP   THEIR    LIVES 
IN  DEFENSE   OF   THE  TRUTH. 

EMBRACING  A  PERIOD  OF  MORE  THAN  2000  YEARS. 

COMPILED  FROM  THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  MOST  EMINENT  AUTHORS  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN 
ERA;   GIVING  IN  CONDENSED   FORM,   A  RELIABLE  AND  COMPREHENSIVE  SUR- 
VEY OP  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH,    FROM  THE  EARLY  AGES  OF   THE 
WORLD,   DOWN  TO  MODERN  TIMES. 

BY   J.   E.    STEBBINS. 

ILLUSTRATED    WITH    STEEL    ENGRAVINGS. 


PUBLISHED  BY  SUBSCRIPTION  ONLY. 

HUELBUT,  KELLOGG  &  CO., 
AMERICAN  SUBSCRIPTION  PUBLISHING  HOUSE, 

lartfnrir,  €nnju. 

1860.       I  \\'':"   ■ 


il mi  OGICAL  SEMINARY 


TiU 


Enturkd    aceorJing  tu  Act.  "f  Congress,  in  the  year  iSoiJ, 

BY  LUCIL'S  STEB}!I?sS, 
111  tlie  Clerk's  Ofliee  of  the  Dist'-i<"'   Court  of  Connecticut. 


R.    H.    HCBBS,    STEREC-TYPER. 


PREFACE. 


A  CLASS  of  writers,  witli  higli-wrought  imaginations,  and  fanciful 
ideas,  have  sought  to  embody  Truth,  and  give  to  us  her  appro- 
priate form,  with  its  august  expression,  sublime  bearing,  and 
heavenward  tendencies ;  but,  when  it  comes  to  us  verified  by  in- 
dividual experience,  in  numberless  instances,  it  appeals  to  our 
hearts  with  more  power  than  all  the  ideal  presentations  we  can 
have,  though  they  be  drawn  ever  so  skillfully.  Considered  as  an 
ideal  thing,  it  may  indeed  have  a  claim  to  beauty ;  but,  truth,  in 
the  abstract,  might  be  presented  to  us  a  thousand  times,  and  win 
from  us  an  indifferent  admiration  compared  with  that  Ave  are  com- 
pelled to  give  it,  when  the  practical  demonstration  of  it  comes 
before  us  in  the  scenes  of  actual  life.  Allowed  to  have  its  legiti- 
mate effect  upon  the  mind  and  character,  it  makes  broader  and 
deeper  the  impress  of  immortality,  elevates  the  nature  of  man, 
enlarges  his  capacity,  and  ennobles  his  whole  being. 

The  lives  of  holy  men,  Avho  have  walked  with  God  in  any  ao-e 
of  the  world,  furnish  us  with  pleasing  exhibitions  of  the  power  of 
living  truth  ;  but,  the  characters  of  Sacred  Writ  stand  out  incom- 
parably superior  to  all  others,  inasmuch  as  they  are  not  measured 
by  the  imperfect  standard  of  human  judgment,  but  truthfully,  faith- 
fully represented  by  the  impartiality  of  heaven-selected,  heaven- 
directed  biographers. 

Their  hidden  springs  of  thought,  and  motives  of  action,  are  fully 
displayed,  and  their  example  held  forth  for  encouragement  and 
warning,  as  the  case  demands. 

It  is  a  fact  which  should  serve  to  hallow  their  memories,  and 
invest  their  history  with  peculiar  interest,  not  exclusively  to  the 

(iii) 


IV  PREFACE. 

christian  reader,  but  to  all  those  whose  part  in  the  common  lot  of 
humanity  ally  them  to  kindred  hopes  and  feelings,  similar  temp- 
tations and  trials  with  them. 

Not  only  should  we  take  an  occasional  review  of  these  records, 
but  make  them  our  study.  Let  us  be  often  found  contemplating 
the  sublime  confidence  of  the  Father  of  the  Faithful,  which  in- 
duced him  at  a  providential  call  to  leave  country  and  home,  that 
he  might  become  an  instrument  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
Divine  purposes. 

Let  us  look  at  the  meekness,  the  energy,  the  unwearied  devotion 
of  him  who  despised  the  gorgeousness  of  the  Egyptian  court,  and 
led,  with  patient  fidelity,  the  host  of  God  on  through  the  tedious 
paths  of  the  wilderness,  regardless  of  his  own  ease  and  advantage, 
content  to  know  he  trod  the  path  by  heaven  designed. 

Let  us  follow  Joseph  through  all  the  changes  of  his  life ; 
through  the  vale  of  sorrow  to  his  post  of  honor  and  distinction ; 
Samuel,  from  his  early  dedication  to  his  royal  dignity  ;  David,  in 
all  the  varied  phases  of  his  existence,  and  learn  from  all  how  ad- 
mirably adapted  is  our  holy  religion  for  any  and  every  emergency ; 
how  transcendently  superior  is  a  life  regulated  by  gospel  principles 
to  every  other,  and  how  certainly  the  ultimate  terminus  of  a  godly 
life  is  radiant  with  the  prospect  of  a  glorious  immortality. 

Let  us  regard  the  words  of  God's  prophetic  messengers  as  one 
after  another  they  utter  the  same  predictions  of  God's  mysterious 
plans  of  mercy  to  a  fallen  race  ;  and  then  turn  to  the  grand  fulfill- 
ment, the  glorious  era,  ushered  in  by  the  advent  of  Him  whose 
benevolent  mission  was  to  reclaim  the  erring,  and  save  the  lost.  It 
was  then  the  majestic  orb  of  eternal  truth  rose,  resplendent  with 
glory,  to  shed  its  life-giving  beams  upon  our  darkened  world.  This 
was  the  brightest,  purest  and  only  perfect  manifestation  of  truth 
ever  made  to  mortal  man. 

The  life  of  Christ,  his  glorious  character,  heavenly  teachings, 
subhme  revelations,  together  with  his  pure  and  spotless  example, 
have  always  a  special  claim  upon  our  attention.  Repetition  can 
never  diminish  their  interest.     Their  constant  and  repeated  pre- 


PREFACE.  V 

sentation  to  the  minds  of  people  sliould  continue  to  elicit  new  in- 
terest, and  call  forth  a  grateful  reception  from  every  one. 

Visionary  enthusiasts  have  sought  models  of  beauty,  and,  by 
various  ingenious  methods,  labored  to  produce  their  fair  ideal ;  but, 
as  often  have  they  fallen  below  their  original  standard.  Let  such 
study  the  life  of  Christ,  and  see  there  the  most  exalted  form  of 
beauty  the  human  mind  is  capable  of  conceiving.  Let  them  ob- 
serve how  every  quality  and  feature  of  beauty  meet  and  center  in 
this  august  personage,  the  lineaments  of  whose  countenance  are 
radiant  with  the  unmistakable  impress  of  divinity.  Every  where, 
thi'ough  his  whole  career,  fi-om  the  manger  to  the  cross,  is  the  same 
ineffable  sweetness,  the  same  inimitable  perfection. 

Having  accomplished  his  gracious  designs  in  coming  to  the 
world,  he  leaves  his  work  with  his  disciples,  in  sacred  trust,  and 
ascends  to  heaven,  while  it  remains  for  us  to  follow  after  the 
■  divinely  commissioned  band,  and  witness  the  convincing  power, 
the  mighty  energy  of  their  holy  doctrines  upon  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  men.  In  them  is  demonstrated  the  reality  of  Christ's 
religion.  It  gives  a  new  impulse  to  all  their  thoughts  and  feelings, 
and  carries  such  an  irresistible  conviction  of  its  power  to  multi- 
tudes of  others  that  they  too  are  constrained  to  embrace  the  prof- 
fered good. 

From  this  time  the  church,  for  a  long  period,  continues  to  in- 
crease, and  stands  out  a  light  to  surrounding  darkness,  a  joy  to 
earth-weary  pilgrims. 

The  history  of  the  primitive  fathers  is  full  of  interest.  Their 
self-denying  labors,  their  zeal  for  the  cause  of  truth,  and  their  efforts 
to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  church  entitle  them  to  veneration. 

In  those  of  the  Middle  Ages  some  may,  perhaps,  discern  what 
seems  a  tincture  of  superstition,  as  they  read  of  monastic  voavs  and 
ascetic  discipline ;  but,  let  such  remember,  that  was  a  time  when 
the  light  of  truth  was  for  a  season  obscured,  and  the  best  and 
holiest  of  men  were  more  or  less  subject  to  the  influence. 

Dark  indeed  is  the  picture  when  we  turn  to  see  opposing  forces 
marshaled  against  the  church,  and  hear  the  cries  of  martyred  hosts 


VI  PREFACE. 

from  various  parts  of  Christendom.  It  sends  a  chill  to  the  heart  to 
dwell  upon  this  portion  of  the  church's  history ;  but,  ■where  else 
could  we  gain  such  an  idea  of  the  genuineness  of  religion  as  here  ? 
"Where  else  is  shown  so  convincingly  its  power  to  sustain  under 
the  w'eight  of  accumulated  suffering  ? 

Theirs  was  a  faithful  testimony ;  a  living  argument.  They 
triumphed  over  death  in  all  its  forms,  and  thus  proved  to  the 
world  the  strength  of  the  foundation  on  which  their  hopes  rested ; 
the  certainty  of  their  admission  to  the  white-robed  throng  who 
reach  the  heavenly  heights  through  the  refining  fires  of  earthly 
tribulation.  Their  spirits  reflected  heaven's  own  light,  and  mortal 
touch  could  not  dim  their  brightness. 

They  might  destroy  the  casket  in  which  the  jewel  was  kept,  but 
the  gem  would  only  be  transferred  to  a  place  where  its  lustre 
would  never  be  tarnished,  its  safety  never  endangered. 

These  histories  are  not  for  a  few,  who,  with  sober  interest  in 
sober  things,  occasionally  turn  aside  to  wonder  and  admire  the 
strength  of  character,  loftiness  of  purpose,  and  singleness  of  aim 
often  apparent ;  but,  they  are  commended  to  every  one  as  contain- 
ing matters  of  highest  moment,  deeply  affecting  their  truest  happi- 
ness, and  well  worthy  their  most  attentive  perusal  and  careful  imi- 
tation. 

Collected  and  arranged  in  comprehensive  form,  the  reader  is 
presented  Avith  an  outline  of  the  christian  church,  its  founders  and 
supporters,  from  the  early  ages  of  the  world  down  to  comparatively 
recent  times. 

Viewed  as  a  whole,  it  is  a  most  sublime  argument  on  the  j)0Avcr 
of  christianitj'  as  exercised  on  our  sin-ruined  race,  and  proclaims, 
in  silent  yet  eloquent  terms,  the  vitality,  the  energy  of  that  heav- 
enly principle  infused  into  the  heart  of  man  by  the  regenerating 
influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Preface, 3 

PART  I.  MOSES  AND  THE  PROPHETS. 

CHATTER  I. 
MOSES. — Preeminent  among  the   Prophets  ;    Early  education   at 
court ;  Call  to  the  prophetic  office ;  Conducts  the  children  of 
Israel   from  the  land   of  bondage ;  Miracle  at  the  Red   Sea ; 
Exclusion  from  the  Promised  Land  ;  His  death 17 

CHAPTER  II. 
ABRAHAM. — God's  purpose  respecting  Abraham  ;  Leaves  his  coun- 
try ;  Receives  a  promise  of  a  son ;  Realizes  that  promise ;  Is 
commanded  to  offer  him  a  burnt  offering ;  Distributes  his  pos- 
sessions ;  Dies  at  an  advanced  age 24 

CHAPTER  III. 
ISAAC. — His  marriage;  Removal  to  Gerar;  Settlement  at  Beer- 
sheba ;  Ignorant  bestowal  of  blessing  on  Jacob ;  His  blindness 
and  final  dissolution 31 

CHAPTER  IV. 
JACOB. — Journey    to   Padan-Aram  ;    Heavenly    manifestation    at 
Bethel ;  Deceptive  marriage  with  Leah ;  Obtains  Rachel ;  Re- 
turns to  his  kindred ;  Mourns  the  loss  of  Joseph ;  Is  restored  to 
him,  and  his  declining  days  rendered  happy 35 

CHAPTER  V. 
JOSEPH. — His    dreams ;    Sold   by   his    brethren ;    Imprisoned  in 
Eg^-pt ;   His   final   promotion ;    Makes    himself  known  to   his 
brethren ;  Sends  for  his  Father;  Death  at  an  advanced  age 41 

CHAPTER  YI. 
JOSHUA. — ^The    ancestry   of    Joshua ;    His   qualifications  to  be  a 
leader  of  the  people  ;  Commanding  the  Sun  to  stand  still ;  Suc- 
cess in  overcoming  his  enemies 48 

CHAPTER  YII. 
SAMUEL. — Early  consecration  to  the  Lord ;  Remarkable  call  to  the 
prophetic  office ;  Chosen  Judge ;  Anoints  Saul  and   afterward 
David ;  His  death  and  supposed  age 52 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
DAVID. — First  appearance  in  public  life ;  Sent  to  his  brothers ; 
Destroys  Goliath ;  Sin  and  sorrow ;  Numbers  the  people,  and 
thereby  incurs  God's  displeasure  ;  Genius  as  a  poet ;  Character 

as  a  man  of  God 56 

(vii) 


Vm  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
ELIJAH. — Birth-place ;    Humble   origin  ;    Sudden    appearance  on 
the  stage  of  active  life ;  Providentially  sustained  at  Cherith  ;  Re- 
stores the  dead ;  Calls  Elisha  to  the  prophetic  office ;  Ascen- 
sion to  Heaven 62 

CHAPTER  X. 
ELISHA. — His    peculiar    mission ;    First    miracle,    purifying    the 
waters ;  Conduct  with   the  three  kings ;  Restores   the   Shuna- 
mite's  child  from  the  dead ;  Heals   Naaman  the   SjTian ;  His 
faithfulness  unto  death 66 

CHAPTER  XI. 
JOB. — Job's    existence   doubted ;  Noted   for  wisdom,   wealth   and 
piety ;    Deprivation   of  all  earthly   possessions ;   Smitten  M'ith 
grievous   disease ;   Perfect  submission  ;  Final  restoration  of  his 
hopes  and  joys;  Reflections  on  the  book  of  Job 71 

CHAPTER  XII. 
ISAIAH. — Probable  time  of  appointment  to  the  sacred  office ;  Length 

of  time  therein ;  Traditions  of  his  family  and  his  own  death 83 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
JEREMIAH. — Call  to  ^  prophetic   in   early  youth  ;•  Reluctance   to 
assume  it  on   this  account ;    Persecution   and   imprisonment ; 
Captivity  and  death 85 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
EZEKIEL. — Circumstances  attending  his  prophetic  call ;  Ardor  in 
entering  upon  it ;  Peculiar  qualities  as  a  writer  ;  Consultation  of 
Rabbins  concerning  his  admission  into  the  Sacred  Canon 88 

CHAPTER  XV. 
DANIEL. — Carried  captive  to  Babylon ;  Early  education  for  the 
king's  court ;  Increasing  favor  there ;  Interpretation  of  the 
dream,  and  consequent  promotion ;  His  arrest  by  envious  men 
who  cast  him  into  a  den  of  lions  j  Tiiumphant  deliverance ;  His 
probable  place  of  death 91 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
HOSEA. — His  early  history  shrouded  in  uncertainty  ;  Time  embraced 

in  his  prophecy ;  Faithfulness  in  dispensing  the  Lord's  message.  .  .  95 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
JOEL. — Opinions  of  critics  in  respect  to  the  time  he  began  to  proph- 
esy ;  Obscurity  resting  upon  it ;  Opinion  of  the  Hebrews ;  Char- 
acter of  prophecy  j  Striking  similarity  to  Ezeldel 97 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
AMOS. — Called  from  the  humble  position  of  "  Herdsman"  to  be  the 
Lord's  messenger ;  His  prime  mission  to  Israel ;  His  accusation 
before  the  king ;  Various  opinions  in  regard  to  his  death 99 


CONTENTS.  ix 

CHAPTEE  XIX.  ^*°^" 

OBADIAH. — Facts  of  his  prophecy  reveal  the  probable  time  when 

he  exercised  the  office  ;  Proof  of  his  Divine  commission 102 

CHAPTER  XX. 
JONAH. — Call  to  go  to  the  Ninevites  ;  Refuses  to  comply ;  Cast  into 
the  sea ;  Finally  delivered ;  Obeys  the  second  call ;  Anger  at  the 
Lord's  mercy • 103 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
MICAH. — Brevity  of  -writings  arising  from  his  constant  engagement 
in  exhorting  publicly ;   Sublimity  of  his  passages ;  The  Lord's 
controversy 106 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
NAIIUM. — Imperfect  knowledge   of  his  personal  history;  Divers 
opinions  concerning  him ;  Foretells  with   accuracy  the  fall  of 
Nineveh 109 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
IIABAKICUK,   ZEPHANIAH,   HAGGAL— Sphit  and  ability  of 
Habalvkuk  ;  Rank  as  a  poet ;  Sublimity  of  his  prayer.     Special 
mission  of  Haggai ;  His  faithfulness.     Uncertainty  resting  upon 
the  history  of  Zephaniah ." 112 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
ZECHARIAH,  MALACHL — Affirmation   concerning  his   priestly 
title ;    Obscurity   of  his    style ;    Prophecy    respecting    Christ. 
Glorious  predictions  of  Malachi;  Last  of  the  Jewish  prophets.  .  .  115 

PART  II.    CHRIST  AND  THE  APOSTLES. 

CHAPTER  I. 
LIFE  OF  CHRIST.— General  decree  for  taxation  ;  Birth  of  Christ  ; 
Circumcision  and  presentation  in  the  temple  ;  Flight  into  Egypt ; 
Massacre  of  infants  at  Bethlehem  ;  Death  of  Herod  and  Joseph's 
return 121 

CHAPTER  II. 
Early  childhood  of  Jesus  ;  Argmnent  with  Jewish  doctors  ;  Baptism 
and  visible  descent  of  the  Spirit  upon  him  ;  Temptation  in  the 
wilderness  ;  His  first  miracle 128 

CHAPTER  III. 
Dispute  with  Nicodemus ;  Baptizes  in  Judea ;  Instructs  a  poor  Sa- 
maritan woman;  Heals  the   nobleman's   son;  Preaches   to   a 
numerous  audience,  his  well  known  seimon  on  the  Moimt 136 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Cm-es  the  leprosy  and  palsy ;  Casts  out  a  devil ;  Confirms  his  mission 
by  .producing  a  mu-aculous  draught  of  fishes  ;  Stills  the  boister- 
ous waves;  Chooses  his  twelve  disciples  to  be  his  companions.  .  .  147 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V.  ^^"^^ 

Restores  to  life  the  widow's  son  at  Nain  ;  jNIiraculous  cure  at  the  pool 
Bethesda ;  Delivers  remarkable  parables,  and  explains  several  ; 
Commissions  the  Apostles  to  preach ;  Feeds  five  thousand  by 

mu-acle 163 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Jesus  continues  to  display  his  power  and  benevolence ;  Delegates  a 
special  power  to  Peter ;  Pronounces  the  final  judgment  of  the 
world ;  Reproves  the  pride  of  his  disciples,  and  teaches  them 

humility ISl 

CHAPTER  YII. 
Attends  the  Passover  at  Jerusalem  ;  Calls  forth  and  sends  out  seventy 
disciples  ;  Resides  with  Martha  and  Mary,  two  obscure  women 
at  Bethany;  Success  of  his  mmistry  beyond  Jordan 196 

CHAPTER  Till. 
Relieves  an  afflicted  woman,  who  had  been  diseased  eighteen  years  ; 
AppHed  to  in  behalf  of  Lazarus  ;  Restores  him  to  life ;  Excite- 
ment of  the  people ;  Council  called  to  resolve  to  put  him  to  death. .  207 
CHAPTER  IX. 
Blesses  children  as  emblems  of  heavenly  temper ;  Declares  the  way 
of  salvation  to  the  Ruler ;  Restores  sight  to  the  blind  ;  Makes  a 
public   entry  into  Jerusalem ;  Predicts  the   desolation  of  the 

temple  ;  Is  anointed  by  a  poor  woman 219 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  humble  Jesus  washes  his  disciples'  feet ;  Foretells  his  betrayer ; 
Institutes  the  Sacrament ;  Prays  with  his  disciples  for  the  last 

time ;  Sufferings  in  the  garden 229 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Taken  by  a  band  of  soldiers ;  Heals  the  wound  of  INIalchus ;  The 
High  Priest ;  Consigned  to  the  bar  of  the  Sanhedrim  ;  Carried 

before  the  Roman  governor ;  Pilate  publicly  acquits  him 243 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Jesus  condemned  and  delivered  at  the  instigation  of  the  inveterate 
Jews ;  Is  led  to  Mount  Calvary  ;  Crucified  between  two  thieves ; 

Nature's  phenomenon  on  the  occasion 255 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
Jesus  treated  with  indignity  after  his  crucifixion ;  Women  visit  his 
sepulchre;  The  Sanour  bursts  the  chains  of  death,  and  rises 
fi-om  the  tomb ;  Appears  to  the  disciples ;  Gives  his  blessing, 
and  ascends  to  Heaven. 269 

CHAPTER  XI Y. 
MATTHEW.— Employment  of  Matthew  ;  His  call  to  follow  Jesus ; 
Writes  his  gospel;  Manner   of   his  death;  Peculiar   christian 
decision 286 


CONTENTS.  Xi 

CTIArTER   XY.  ''■'°^' 

MARK  AND  LUKE.— INIark's  descent  from  the  tribe  of  Levi ;  His 
numerous  labors,  and  cruel  and  aggravated  death  ;  Early  educa- 
tion of  Luke ;  Varied  opinions  as  to  his  writings ;  Familiar  inter- 
coui-se  with  Paul 288 

CHAPTER  XYI. 
JOHN  THE  EVANGELIST.— Peculiar  honor  conferred  upon  John 
by  the  SaA-iour  ;  Scenes  of  his  labor ;  His  cruel  treatment  by 
Domitian  ;  Death  at  an  advanced  age ;  His  graces  of  character.  .  293 

CIIirTER  XYIL 
THOMAS. — Devotion  of  Thomas  to  Christ;  Meeting  after  his  resur- 
rection ;  Persecution  to  death  for  his  righteous  labors 297 

CHAPTER  XYin. 
ANDREW.— His  parentage  ;  Call  to  preach  the  gospel ;  Cruel  treat- 
ment of  the  Jews  against  him  ;  His  martyrdom 309 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
PHILIP. — Superior  education  of  Philip ;  His  labors  in  turning  men 

from  their  idols  to  Christ ;  His  cruel  death 303 

C  H  \  P  T  F  P    XX 
BARTHOLOMEW.— Nat hanief  and  Bartholomew  the  same  charac- 
ter ;  First  inteniew  with  Christ ;  Account  of  his  labors  and  final 
martyrdom qq- 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
JAMES  THE  GREAT. — James'  parentage;  Call  to  the  apostleship  ; 
Change  of  name,  and  probable  cause ;  Herod  passes  sentence  of 
death  upon  him,  and  he  is  finally  executed 307 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
JAMES  THE  LESS. — Doubt  as  to  his  identity  ;  Faithfulness  as  a 

bishop  ;  His  enemies,  in  consequence,  put  him  to  a  cruel  death. .  .  310 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
SIMON  AND  JUDE.— Simon  belongs  to  the  Zealots,  a  sect  by  that 
name  ;  Zeal  for  Christ  after  his  conversion  ;  Death   and  burial 
unknown.     Scenes  of  Jude's  labors  ;  His  success,  &c 313 

CHAPTER  XXIY. 
PETER. — First  interview  with  Jesus,  and  his  call ;  Denial  of  Christ ; 

Meeting  with  Jesus  after  his  resurrection  ;  Boldness  in  preaching.  .  316 

CHAPTER  XXY. 
Mu-acles  performed  by  Peter;  Ilis  vision  ;  Success  of  his  preaching"; 
Remarkable  deliverance  from  prison ;  Banishment  from  Rome; 
Second  imprisonment,  and  final  martyrdom 330 

CHAPTER  XXYI. 
PAUL.— Early  history  of  Paul ;  Conversion  to  the  christian  faith  ;, 
Labors  in   the   good   cause  immediately  after  his  conversion  ; 
Council  held  at  Jerusalem 333 


Xil  CONTENTS. 

CHAP  TEH  XXYII.                                     ^**"'' 
Preaching  at  Athens  ;  Success  of  ministry  at  Corinth  and  Ephesus  ; 
Departure  from  Ephesus  after  three  years'  residence ;  Arraigned 
before  Fehx  ;  Confined  in  the  judgment  hall 347 

CHAPTER  XXTIII. 
Trial  before  Felix  ;  Appeals  to  Ctesar ;  Arrival  at  Rome  ;  Dwells  in 

peace  at  that  city;  His  martyrdom  ;  Observations,  &c 361 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 
BARNABAS  AND   STEPHEN.— Instruction  of  Barnabas  under 
Gamaliel ;    Devotion  to  the   christian    cause ;   Inhuman   death. 
Remarkable  piety  of  Stephen ;  Stoned  to  death  ;  Prays,  &c 367 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
TIMOTHY  AND  TITUS.— Friendship  of  Paul  and  Timothy ;  The 
title  of  bishop  conferred  upon  the  latter.     Parentage  of  Titus  ; 
Scene  of  his  labors,  and  final  decease  at  an  advanced  age 371 

PART  III.  FATHERS  AND  MARTYRS. 

CHAPTER  I. 
IGNATIUS. — Appearance  before  Trajan  ;  His  letters ;  His  charity 

and  humility  ;  His  martyrdom 377 

CHAPTER  II. 
JUSTIN   MARTYR.— Search   after  truth;  Embraces   Christianity; 
His  writings  ;  Apprehended  and  brought  before  the  governor  ; 
His  death 382 

CHAPTER  III.  _ 
ORIGEN. — Early  domestic  teaching ;  Energy  in  the  study  of  theol- 
ogy ;  Produces  several  treatises  ;  Persecution  and  death 387 

CHAPTER  IV. 
IRENjEUS. — Instniction  under   Polycarp ;    Succeeds  Pothinus    as 

bishop  ;  Is  put  to  death  ;  Character  of  writings 394 

CHAPTER  V. 
TERTULLIAN. — His  profession ;  Becomes   associated  with  INIon- 

tanism  ;  His  writings  and  character 397 

CHAPTER  TI. 
PANT.'EXUS. — Peculiar   philosophy ;   Labors   in  India  ;  Christian 

character 402 

CHAPTER  YII. 
CLE:\IENS  ALEXANDRINUS.— Succeeds  Panttenus  ;  His  writings 

the  index  of  his  mind  ;  Quotations  from  his  Avorks 405 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
CYPRIAN. — History    of   his    conversion ;    Heavenly-mindedness  ; 

Conduct  in  retirement ;  Zeal  for  the  church  ;  Suffers  martyrdom 

under  the  reign  of  Valerian 409 

CHAPTER  IX. 
GREGORY  THAUMATURGUS.— Enjoys  the  tuition  of  Origenj 


CONTENTS,  Xlii 

Page, 

Arduous  labors  in  the  cause  of  Christianity ;  Evangelical  char- 
acter  419 

CHAPTER  X. 
BASIL  OF  C^SAREA. — Superior  attainments  in  learning ;  Efforts 

as  pastor ;  Death  hastened  by  austerity 423 

CHAPTER  XI. 
AMBROSE. — Reluctance  to  accept  the  office  of  bishop ;  Persecution 

by  Justin  ;  Arduous  labors  in  his  calling;  Early  death 427 

CHAPTER  XII. 
GREGORY   BAZIANZEN.— Embraces    Christianity;    Assists    his 

father  in  pastoral  duties ;  His  works 434 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
AUGUSTINE. — Augustine   conspicuous    in    the    list    of   primitive 

fathers  ;  Ilis  birth-place  ;  His  mother's  salutary  influence,  &c.  .  .  438 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
JOHN    CHRYSOSTOM.— Early   display    of    eloquence  ;    Chosen 

bishop ;  Efforts  at  reformation ;  Banishment,  &c 448 

CHAPTER  XV. 
JEROME. — Classical  education ;  Lives  in  retirement ;  Mental  char- 
acteristics  454 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
PATRICK,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  THE  IRISH.— Manner  of  his  con- 
version ;  Smgular  devotion  to  pious  labors,  &c 457 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
COLUMBAN. — Establishes  convents  for  the  purpose  of  spreading 

the  gospel ;  Instructions  to  his  pupils  ;  Is  finally  banished 466 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
GALLUS,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  SWITZERLAND.— Success  of  Gal- 

lus  promoted  by  his  familiar  intercourse  with  the  people,  &c.  .  . .  479 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
BONIFACE,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  THE  GERMANS.— Early  train- 
ing and  strong  desire  to  preach  the  gospel,  &c 483 

CHAPTER  XX. 
ANSCHAR,  THE  APOSTLE  OF  THE  NORTH.— His  remarkable 

vision  ;  Effect  upon  him  ;  Boldness  in  preaching  the  gpspel,  &c.  .  491 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
GREGORY,  ABBOT  OF  UTRECHT.— Eagerly  listens  to  the  in- 
structions of  Boniface,  and  follows  him ;  Dies  in  the  church,  &c.  .  498 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
STURM,  OF  FULDA. — Efforts  in  founding  a  monastery ;  Final  suc- 
cess, and  last  farewell  to  his  friends 501 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
OTTO,  APOSTLE  OF  POMERANIA.— His  christian  disinterested- 
ness ;  Labors  among  the  heathen ;  Success  in  converting,  &c.  .  .  .  504 


XIV  CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CHATTER  XXIV. 
RAIMUND  LULL. — His  birth-place  ;  Character  of  his  early  life ; 

Peculiar  mental  constitution  influences  his  religious  life,  &c 517 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
LINDGER  AND  WILLEHAD.— Their  jn-eparation  for  the  minis- 

terial  work  ;  Suffering  in  it ;  Closing  scene  of  their  lives 527 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
EARLY  DAYS  OF  MARTYRDOM.— Character  of  the  different 

persecutions  ;  Their  cause  and  effects,  S:c 531 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
POLY  CARP. — Sentence  of  death  passed  against  him ;  Conduct  be- 
fore the  pro-consul  and  in  the  hour  of  death 540 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
WILLLVM  LITHGOAV.— Account  of  his  travels ;  Terrible  persecu- 
tion in  Spain ;  Extreme  suffering  and  manner  of  deliverance.  .  .  .  543 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
GEORGE  WISHART.— Efforts  to  spread  the  gospel ;  Deception  of 

the  cardinal  to  put  an  end  to  his  life  ;  Triumphant  faith,  &c.  .  .  .  549 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
LADY   JANE  GREY.— Crown   bequeathed  her  by  Edward  VL  ; 

Degraded  by  jNIary ;  Imprisoned  and  finally  beheaded 553 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
JEROME,  OF  PRAGUE.— jNIeets  with  the  works  of  Wickliffe,  and 

espouses  his  doctrines  ;  Is  called  before  the  council,  &c 559 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 
JOHN  ROGERS. — Circumstances  of  conversion;  Persecution  under 

Mary  ;  Gives  his  life  in  defence  of  the  gospel .  564 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
J0H:N  HOOPER.— Spiritual  life ;  Fills  the  place  of  steward  ;  Flees,  &c.  5G7 

CHAPTER   XXXIV. 
ROWLAND  TAYLOR.— Faithful  preaching ;   Cause  of  apprehen- 
sion ;  Appearance  before  the  bishop ;  Sentence  of  condemnation.  .  572 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
RAWLINS  WHITE.— Piety  in  humble  life  ;  Efforts  to  become,  &c. .  576 

CHAPTER  XXXYI. 
LAWRENCE  SAUNDERS.— Early  predilection  for  a  minister's  life.  580 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
THOMAS  HAWKS.— Bright  example  of  integrity  and  devotion,  &c. .  583 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 
JOHN  BRADFORD.— Literary  attainments  ;  Is  persuaded,  &c.  ...  586 

CHAPTER   XXXIX. 
RIDLEY  AND  LATIMER.— Circumstances  of  their  conversion,  &c.  .  590 

CHAPTER  XL. 
CHRISTIANITY.— Christianity  ;  Its  nature,  design,  effect,  &c 597 


z=il 


PART    I. 


''^/>;y  -=_ -V^/v/ /•/ //^/     ////      C tCx'/y/ ///'•'' ^/ z^/ /^^c^/uj 


CHAPTER  I. 

Poses. 

PRE-EJO^sTlNT  A^rONG  THE  PROPHETS ;  EAELY  EDUCATION  AT  COUPvT ;  CALL 

TO  THE  PROPHETIC  OFFICE ;  CONDUCTS  THE  CHILDREN  OF  ISRAEL 

FROM  THE  LAND  OF  BONDAGE ;  3IIRACLE  AT  THE  RED  SEA ; 

EXCLUSION  FROX  THE  PROIIISED  LAND ;  HIS  DEATH. 

• 
"HILE  Israel  lay  under    long  and  heavy  op- 
pression in  Egypt,  the  man  appointed  to  be 
the  deliverer  was  born,  and  was   undergoing 
the  training  requisite  for  the   office  he  was 
destined  to  bear.     This  man  was  Moses. 
He  stands  preeminent  among  the  prophets,  as  one  who  not 
only  enjoyed  the  continual  prophetic  afflatus,  but  had  such 
visions  of  and  intercourse  with  God,  as  no  other  one  ever  had. 
He  was  the   son  of  Amram   and  Jochebed,  both  of  the 
tribe  of  Levi,  and  was  born  A.  M.  2433,  B.  C.  1571. 

The  circumstances  of  his  infancy  are  well  known,  yet  they 
are  always  instructive  to  dwell  upon,  as  affording  ample  and 
convincing  proof  of  God's  particular  care  for  his  creatures. 

The  king  of  Egypt  issued  an  edict  to  destroy  all  the  male 
children  of  the  Hebrews.* 

The  personal  beauty  of  Moses,  added  to  parental  affection, 
seems  to  have  induced  the  parents  to  hazard  every  thing  to 
preserve  their' child's  life  ;  they  therefore  hid  him  for  three 
months  ;  but  finding  from  circumstances  that  they  could 
keep  him  secret  no  longer,  they  were  determined  to  abandon 
him  wholly  to  the  care  of  Providence. 

^  Having  provided  a  little  vessel  of  bulrushes,  or  flags 
pitched,  and  thus  rendered  impervious  to  the  water,  they  set 
him  afloat  on  the  river  Nile,  and  sent  his  sister  Miriam  to 
watch  the  event. 

The  daughter  of  Pharaoh  coming  to  that  part  of  the  river, 

(17) 


18  MOSES. 

seeing  the  vessel  afloat,  commanded  it  to  be  brought  to  her ; 
and  being  struck  with  the  helpless  state  and  beauty  of  the 
child,  judging  that  it  belonged  to  one  of  the  Hebrews,  deter- 
mined to  preserve  its  life,  and  adopt  it  for  her  own.  Through 
the  sister's  influence  it  was  committed  to  its  mother's  care ; 
the  princess  being  entirely  ignorant  of  the  relation  that 
existed  between  them. 

At  a  proper  age  he  was  taken  to  the  Egyptian  court,  and 
educated  there  as  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  and  by  his 
superior  attainments  in  learning  and  wisdom,  became  very 
eminent.  Here  he  appears  to  have  stayed  nearly  forty  years. 
Indeeid,  his  life  seems  to  have  been  divided  into  three  remark- 
able periods,  each  embracing  the  same  length  of  time.  The 
one  already  mentioned  ;  the  forty  years  he  sojourned  in  the 
land  of  Midian,  in  a  state  of  preparation  for  his  great  and 
important  mission  ;  and  the  forty  years  he  guided,  led,  and 
governed  the  Israelites  under  the  express  dii-ection  and 
authority  of  God. 

It  was  in  consequence  of  having  killed  one  of  the  oppress- 
ors of  his  brethren,  he  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  Midian, 
where,  entering  into  the  service  of  Jethro,  a  priest  or  prince 
of  that  country,  he  married  his  daughter  Zipporah,  by  whom 
he  had  two  sons,  Eleazer  and  Gershom,  and  continued  as  the 
guardian  of  the  flocks  of  his  father-in-law  for  forty  years. 
At  the  conclusion  of  this  time,  while  engaged  in  his  wonted 
employment,  God  manifested  himself  to  him,  and  gave  him  a 
commission  to  bring  Israel  out  of  Egypt. 

A  voice  from  a  "  hurning  bush  "  arrested  his  attention ;  and 
the  speaker  announced  himself  as  the  God  of  Abraham,  of 
Isaac,  and  of  Jacob.  He  declared  that  he  had  beheld  with 
divine  compassion  the  miseries  of  his  people ;  and  that  the 
time,  the  long-appointed  time  for  their  deliverance  had  come. 
This  doubtless  made  the  heart  of  Moses  glad.  The  closing 
words,  however,  fill  him  with  consternation,  for  it  declared 
that  he  was  to  go  back  to  Egypt  to  present  himself  before  the 
king  then  reigning,  and  to  demand  for  Israel  leave  to  depart. 
This  filled  him  with  unfeigned  astonishment,  and  a  sense 
of  his  unfitness  for  the  work  elicited  the  question,  "Who am 


MOSES. 


19 


I,  that  I  should  go  -unto  Pharaoh  ? ''  Not  even  Jehovah's 
promise,  "  I  will  be  with  thee,"  could  overcome  his  reluctance 
then,  and  he  prayed  to  be  released.  But  he  was  the  man  ap- 
pointed for  the  task  ;  for  this  he  had  been  born  ;  for  this 
preserved  ;  for  this  trained  ;  and  there  was  no  escape  for  him. 

He  went  on  the  Divine  errand,  became  associated  with 
his  elder  brother  Aaron,  opened  his  commission  to  the  Egyp- 
tian king,  and  wrought  several  striking  miracles  to  prove 
the  truth  of  his  mission. 

The  king  refusing  to  let  the  people  go,  God  afflicted  him 
and  the  land  with  ten  grievous  plagues  ;  but  when  the  cli- 
max of  suffering  was  reached,  and  the  Destroying  Angel 
swept  by,  the  alarmed  monarch  bade  them  depart,  and  with 
Moses  for  their  leader,  the  liberated  multitude  departed  joy- 
fully from  their  oppressors. 

In  their  march  God  directed  them  toAvard  the  Red  Sea, 
and  when  they  came  in  sight  of  that  waste  of  waters,  to  hu- 
man appearance  their  course  was  stayed. 

But  God  would  magnify  himself  and  his  messenger  be- 
fore all  Israel,  and  at  his  command,  Moses  lifted  up  his  rod 
upon  the  waters,  and  forthwith  a  pathway  tlii'ough  the  deep 
was  opened  for  them. 

They  passed  safely  the  marvelous  channel,  which  the 
Egyptians  essaying  to  do,  were  drowned  ;  thus  was  consum- 
mated by  one  fearful  stroke,  the  deliverance  of  Israel,  and 
the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptians. 

Having  led  the  Israelites  into  the  deserts  of  Arabia,  com- 
monly called  the  wilderness,  God  gave  them  the  most  signal 
manifestations  of  his  power  and  goodness  in  a  series  of  mir- 
acles, and  delivered  to  Moses,  their  leader,  that  information 
and  those  laws  which  are  contained  in  the  Pentateuch. 

How  solemn  his  position  on  the  sacred  moimt,  in  intimate 
converse  with  God,  and  express  contemplation  of  his  majes- 
ty. No  wonder,  that  with  this  holy  state  of  mind,  he 
should  come  down  to  an  idolatrous  people,  with  words  of 
severe  rebuke  for  their  strange  departure. 

His  intercessions  to  the  God  of  Heaven  for  them  insured 
the  Divine  forgiveness,  and  he  led  them  on  to  the  verge  of 


20  MOSES. 

the  promised  land,  thougli,  alas !  it  was  not  for  him  to  enter. 
Once,  even  he  had  wandered  from  the  prescribed  path  of 
duty,  by  reason  of  which  he  had  been  excluded  from  the 
fair  borders  of  Canaan. 

As  they  drew  near  their  inheritance,  it  became  manifest 
the  great  work  of  Moses  was  accomplished,  and  it  only  re- 
mained for  him  to  render  up  his  life.  The  people  for  whom 
he  had  so  long  cared,  and  whom  he  had  so  anxiously  led, 
were  about  to  cease  their  wanderings,  and  enter  upon 
the  full  possession  of  the  blessings  of  freedom  in  a  peaceful 
land. 

Yet  it  was  fit  that  before  this  venerable  servant  of  God 
laid  down  his  charge,  he  should  see  that  part  of  it  which 
could  be  transmitted,  deposited  in  proper  hands,  that  he 
might  die  in  the  comfortable  assurance  that  the  great  work 
he  had  undertaken  might  be  vigorously  prosecuted  after  his 
decease. 

Ever  since  the  fatal  day  of  Meribah,  the  prophet  knew 
that  he  was  doomed  to  die  without  setting  the  sole  of  his 
foot  upon  the  land  which  was  to  form  the  heritage  of  his 
people.  But  now  he  receives  a  distinct  intimation,  as  his 
brother  had  before,  that  the  appointed  time  was  come,  and 
like  him,  he  is  directed  to  ascend  the  neighboring  mountain, 
there  to  render  up  his  life. 

Observe  well  how  he  receives  this  intimation. 

What  is  the  foremost  thought  in  his  mind  ? 

Nothing  that  concerns  himself, — no  regret  of  his  own ; 
all  his  thought  is  for  the  welfare  of  the  people.  "  Let  Jeho- 
vah, the  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh,  set  a  man  over  the 
congregation,  who  may  go  out  before  them,  and  who  may  go 
in  before  them,  and  who  may  lead  them  out,  and  who  may 
bring  them  in ;  that  the  congregation  of  the  Lord  be  not  as 
sheep  which  have  no  shepherd."  Here  is  the  same  loftiness 
of  spirit,  rising  above  every  thought  of  self, — the  same  zeal 
for  the  honor  of  God, — the  same  devoted  concern  for  the 
welfare  of  the  people,  which  had  hitherto  marked  his  whole 
career.  "  We  may  wade  through  folios  of  history  and  biog- 
raphy, narrating   the  mighty  deeds   of  warriors,  statesmen. 


MOSES.  21 

and  professed  patriots,  before  we  find  another  case  equal  to 
this  in  interest." 

The  suit  of  Moses  was  heard,  and  Joshua  was  solemnly 
inaugurated  as  the  future  leader  of  the  Hebrew  host.  Nothing 
then  remained  for  the  prophet  to  do,  but  to  pour  out  his 
heart  before  the  people  in  lofty  odes  and  eloquent  blessings. 
Then  he  retired  to  the  appointed  mountain,  that  he  might 
before  his  death  survey  the  goodly  land  in  which  the  people 
were  to  establish  that  noble  commonwealth  which  he  had  so 
laboriously  organized. 

Who  can  tell  the  eagerness  of  that  glance  which  he  threw 
over  the  magnificent  country  that  opened  upon  his  view  ? 

Upon  this  scene  his  eye  closed,  and  in  the  recesses  of  the 
mountain,  out  of  the  sight  of  the  host,  in  a  hollow  of  the 
hilly  region,  where  he  died,  his  corpse  was  deposited.  Had 
the  spot  been  known,  it  would,  without  question,  have  become 
first  the  goal  of  pious  pilgrimages,  and  then  perhaps,  by  the 
apotheosis  of  one  so  venerated,  a  scene  of  idolatrous  worship. 
It  is  in  harmony  with  the  self-renouncing  spirit  which  his 
whole  life  displayed,  that  means  were  taken  to  prevent  the 
place  of  his  last  rest  from  being  visited  by  the  coming  gen- 
erations, which  would  have  such  good  cause  to  revere  and 
bless  his  name. 

Thus  he  died  in  the  one  hundred  and  twentieth  year  of 
his  age. 

Care,  labor,  and  years  had  made  no  inroads  upon  his  con- 
stitution, for  it  is  particularly  mai-ked  that  '•'  his  eye  was  not 
dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated,"  that  he  preserved  all  the 
vivacity  of  youth  and  the  vigor  of  manhood  to  a  period  in 
which,  even  at  that  time,  old  age  made  its  greatest  depreda- 
tions upon  those  who  had  no*  other  support  than  what  the 
common  course  of  nature  afforded. 

The  eulogium  or  character  given  of  him  by  the  Spirit  of 
God,  though  very  concise,  is  yet  very  full  and  satisfactory: 
"And  there  arose  not  a  prophet  since  in  Israel,  like  unto 
Moses,  whom  Jehovah  knew  face  to  face ;  in  all  the  signs 
and  wonders  which  the  Lord  sent  him  to  do  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  to  Pharaoh,  and  to  all  his  servants,  and  to  all  his 


22 


MOSES, 


land ;  and  in  all  that  mighty  hand  and  in  all  the  great  terror 
which  Moses  showed  in  the  sight  of  all  Israel." 

He  is  called  the  servant  of  God ;  and  he  has  farther  this  high 
character,  that  as  a  servant;  he  was  faithful  to  God  in  all  his  house. 

He  faithfully  discharged  the  trust  reposed  in  him ;  and 
totally  forgetting  himself,  and  his  own  secular  interest,  with 
that  also  of  his  family,  he  labored  incessantly  to  promote 
God's  honor  and  the  people's  welfare,  which  on  many  occa- 
sions he  showed  were  dearer  to  him  than  his  own  life. 

Moses  was  in  every  respect  a  great  man  ;  for  every  virtue 
that  constitutes  genuine  nobility  was  concentrated  in  his 
mind,  and  fully  displayed  in  his  conduct. 

He  ever  conducted  himself  as  a  man  conscious  of  his  own 
integrity,  and  of  the  guidance  and  protection  of  God,  under 
whose  orders  he  constantly  acted.  He  therefore  betrays  no 
confusion  in  his  views,  nor  indecision  in  his  measures  ;  he 
was  ever  without  corroding  anxiety,  because  he  was  conscious 
of  the  rectitude  of  his  inotives,  and  that  the  cause  which  he 
espoused  was  the  cause  of  God,  and  that  his  power  and  faith- 
fulness were  pledged  for  his  support. 

His  courage  and  fortitude  were  unshaken  and  unconquer- 
able, because  his  reliance  was  \inremittingly  fixed  on  the 
unchangeableness  of  Jehovah. 

He  left  Egypt  having  an  eye  to  the  recompense  of  reward 
in  another  world,  and  never  lost  sight  of  this  grand  object ; 
he  was  therefore  neither  discouraged  by  difficulties,  nor  elated 
by  prosperity.  He  who  in  Egypt  refused  to  be  called  the  son 
of  Pharaoh's  daughter,  thereby  renouncing  the  claim  he 
might  have  had  on  the  Egyptian  throne,  was  never  likely  to 
be  influenced  by  secular  views  in  the  government  of  the 
miserable  multitudes  which  he  led  out  of  that  country.  His 
renunciation  of  the  Court  of  Pharaoh,  and  its  advantages,  was* 
the  amplest  proof  that  he  neither  sought  nor  expected  honor 
or  emolument  in  the  ivilderness,  among  a  people  who  had 
scarcely  any  thing  but  what  they  received  by  immediate 
miracle  from  the  hand  of  God. 

His  disinterestedness  is  particularly  observable ;  his  moral 
character  almost  immaculate. 


MOSES.  23 

As  the  mind  tries,  however,  to  rest  as  it  were  unconsciously 
upon  the  prominent  points  of  the  character  which  his  career 
evinces,  and  which  we  discover  in  most  other  men,  we  find 
ourselves  unexpectedly  baffled.  All  the  great  men  of  sacred 
as  well  as  of  profane  history,  possessed  some  prominent  virtue 
or  quality,  which  stood  out  in  bolder  relief  than  their  other 
perfections.  We  think  of  the  faith  of  Abraham,  of  the  con- 
scientiousness of  Joseph,  of  the  contrition  of  David,  of  the 
generosity  of  Jonathan,  of  the  zeal  of  Elijah, — but  what  do 
we  regard  as  the  dominant  quality  of  Moses  ?  It  is  not  to  be 
found.  The  mind  is  perplexed  in  the  attempt  to  fix  on  any. 
It  is  not  firmness,  it  is  not  perseverance,  it  is  not  disinterest- 
edness, it  is  not  patriotism,  it  is  not  confidence  in  God,  it  is 
not  meekness,  it  is  not  humility,  it  is  not  forgetfulness  of  self. 

It  is  not  any  one  of  these. 

It  is  all  of  them.  His  virtues,  his  graces,  were  all  equal 
to  each  other  ;  and  it  was  their  beautifully  harmonious  ope- 
ration and  development  which  constituted  his  noble  and  all 
but  perfect  character. 

This  was  the  greatness  of  Moses, — this  was  the  glory  of  his 
character.  It  is  a  kind  of  character  rare  in  any  man — and  in  no 
man,  historically  known,  has  it  been  so  completely  manifested. 

The  exigences  of  even  those  great  affairs  which  engaged 
his  thoughts,  did  not,  and  could  not,  call  forth  on  any  one 
occasion,  all  the  high  qualities  with  which  he  was  gifted.  It 
is  rarely  possible  to  see  more  than  one  high  endowment  in 
action  at  the  same  time.  But  avc  find  Moses  equal  to  every 
occasion, — he  is  never  lacking  in  the  virtue  which  the  occa- 
sion requires  him  to  exercise ;  and  by  this  we  know  that  he 
possessed  them  all. 

When  we  reflect  that  Moses  possessed  all  the  learning  of 
his  age,  and  that  he  wanted  none  of  the  talents  which  consti- 
tute human  greatness, — while  we  know  that  such  endoAV- 
ments  are  not  invariably  accompanied  by  high  character  and 
noble  sentiments, — we  honor  his  humility  more  than  his 
glory,  and  above  all,  venerate  that  Divine  wisdom  Avhich 
raised  up  this  extraordinary  man,  and  called  him  forth  at 
the  moment  when  the  world  had  need  of  him. 


24 


ABRAHAM 


On  the  whole,  it  may  be  remarked,  that  when  God  calls 
any  person  to  an  extraordinary  Avork,  he  so  orders  it,  in  the 
course  of  his  Providence,  that  he  shall  have  every  qualifica- 
tion necessary  for  that  work.  This  was  emphatically  the  case 
with  Moses ;  his  Hebrew  extraction,  the  comeliness  of  his 
person,  his  Egyptian  education,  his  natural  firmness  and  con- 
stancy of  character,  all  concurred  with  the  influences  of  the 
Divine  Spirit,  to  make  him  in  every  respect  such  a  perso^ 
one  among  millions,  who  was  every  way  qualified  for  the 
great  work  which  God  had  given  him  to  do ;  and  who  per- 
formed it  according  to  the  mind  of  his  Maker. 

•'  Servant  of  God,  well  done  ! " 


CHAPTER  II. 

GOD'S  PIJIIPOSE  KESPECTING  ABRAHAM ;  LEAYES  HIS  COOTrtY;  EECEKES  A 
PROMISE  OF  A  SON ;  REALIZES  THAT  PROMISE ;  IS  COMMANDED  TO 
OFEER  HDI  A  BURNT  OFFERING ;  DISTRIBUTES  HIS  POSSES- 
SIONS ;  DIES  AT  AN  ADYANCED  AGE. 

FTER  the  flood,  the  sacred  narrative  rapidly 
conducts  us  to  the  man,  the  history  of  whose 
descendants,  their  sins,  their  sorrows,  their  ex- 
cellences, their  rewards,  and  their  punishments 
forms  the  great  theme  of  the  remainder  of  the 
Old  Testament. 

The  purpose  of  the  Most  High  was  to  choose  a  man,  and 
in  him  a  family  and  a  nation,  to  be  His  witness  upon  the 
earth,  and  the  repository  of  ancient  truths,  and  of  Messianic 
hopes,  until  the  fullness  of  redeeming  time  should  come. 

The  person  on  whom  this  choice  fell  was  Abram,  the  son 
of  Terah,  of  the  line  of  Shem,  whose  native  place  was  "  Ur 
of  the  Chaldees." 

The  only  thing  related  of  him  previous  to  his  seventieth 


Wm.B.Simfh.! 


.ILL   J 


Genesis .  Chap.  X  X 1 ,  Vpt  XIX 


ABRAHAM, 


25 


year,  is  tlie  mere  fact  that  he  took  a  wife,  whose  name  was 
"  Sarai." 

Ancient  history  and  tradition  undertake  to  fill  up  this 
blank  in  his  early  history  by  informing  us  of  his  search  after 
the  true  God,  .his  discovery  of  the  impotence  of  idolatry, 
and  of  his  persecution  for  righteousness'  sake.  Neverthe- 
less, seeing  that  Abram  must  have  already  known  the  God 
who  required  him  to  quit  for  His  sake  all  that  he  held  dear, 
and  whom  he  even  to  that  extent  obeyed ;  and  seeing  that 
he  had  acquired  this  knowledge  while  the  member  of  an 
idolatrous  family,  he  had  doubtless  meditated  much  on  these 
things,  and  nad  been  favored  with  special  communications 
by  that  God  who  intended  to  make  his  name  great,  and  to 
render  him  a  blessing  to  many  nations. 

At  seventy  years  of  age  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to 
Abram,  saying,  "  Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,  and  from  thy 
kindred,  and  come  into  the  land  that  I  shall  show  thee." 

The  country  to  which  he  was  to  go  was  not  indicated  ;  he 
was  simply  required  to  detach  himself  from  all  the  ties  of 
kindred  and  country,  and  proceed  in  a  direction  to  be  indi- 
cated. This  was  a  hard  command ;  but  Abram  obeyed  it, 
and  forthwith  quitted  his  native  land. 

His  father  and  brother  were,  however,  willing  to  go  with 
him.  But  they  halted  on  the  way,  at  Haran,  in  Mesopota- 
mia, from  some  unknown  cause,  till  the  death  of  Terah, 
when  the  command  to  Abram  was  renewed,  and  the  country 
to  which  he  was  to  proceed  was  clearly  indicated. 

This  was  the  land  of  Canaan,  destined  to  become  the  pos- 
sessions of  this  man's  descendants. 

It  may  be  conjectured  that  the  Divine  intention  was  to 
isolate  Abram  and  his  seed  completely,  by  removing  him  to 
a  strange  land  ;  it  did  not  consist  with  that  purpose  that  he 
should  thus  be  accompanied  by  his  family  into  Canaan ;  but 
that,  in  regard  to  his  filial  affection,  he  was  graciously  per- 
mitted to  remain  at  Haran,  and  lay  his  father's  head  in  the 
tomb,  before  any  further  indication  as  to  the  course  of  his 
journey  was  afforded. 

As  he  comes  to  the  very  land  in  which  he  is  promised  so 


26 


ABRAHAM. 


mucli  blessedness,  he  finds,  instead  of  plenty,  a  grievous 
famine  !  Who  in  his  circumstances  would  not  have  gone 
back  to  his  own  country  and  kindred  ? 

Still  he  is  not  troubled  ;  prudence  directs  him  to  turn 
aside  and  go  to  Egypt,  till  God  shall  choose  to  remove  this 
famine.  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  iu  this  tried  state,  he 
should  have  serious  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  his  life  ? 

Sarai,  his  affectionate  wife  and  faithful  companion,  he  sup- 
poses he  shall  lose  ;  her  beauty,  he  suspects,  will  cause  her 
to  be  desired  by  men  of  power,  whose  will  he  shall  not  be 
able  to  resist.  If  he  appear  to  be  her  husband,  Jjis  death  he 
supposes  to  be  certain  ;  if  she  pass  for  his  sister,  he  may  be 
well  used  on  her  account ;  he  will  not  tell  a  lie,  but  he  is 
tempted  to  prevaricate  by  suppressing  k  part  of  the  truth. 

Here  his  faith  was  deficient.  He  still  credited  the  gener- 
al promise,  and  acted  on  that  faith  in  reference  to  it ;  but  he 
did  not  use  his  faith  in  reference  to  intervening  circumstances, 
to  which  it  was  equally  applicable. 

This  course  of  conduct,  however,  so  far  from  producing 
the  desired  results,  was  attended  by  those  he  most  dreaded 
and  labored  to  avert. 

The  counsel  of  the  Lord  remained  unshaken,  and  there- 
fore he  was  delivered. 

The  peace-loving  spirit  of  Abram  is  beautifully  exempli- 
fied in  his  intercourse  with  Lot,  where  he  sacrifices  his 
worldly  advantage  for  the  sake  of  harmony,  but  what  he 
lost  in  mere  earthly  gain  was  more  than  compensated  in  his 
Lord's  blessing.  He  became  rich  and  prosperous  ;  victori- 
ous and  great. 

Eepeated  manifestations  of  God's  presence  were  granted, 
and  promises  of  incalculable  good  made  to  him. 

One  in  his  ninety -ninth  year  assured  him  of  the  all-suffi- 
ciency of  God's  power ;  gave  him  a  surety  of  the  fulfillment 
of  the  promise  which  had  previously  been  made,  of  the 
birth  of  a  son,  and  a  numerous  posterity. 

Then  was  his  name  changed  to  Abraham,  a  name  more 
significant  of  the  promise. 

Again   the    Lord    appeared  with  a   confirmation  of  the 


ABRAHAM.  27 

good,  attended  by  angels  ;  and  here  we  are  furnished  with 
that  beautiful  example  of  Eastern  hospitality  ;  at  once  simple 
and  grand.  Notwithstanding  a  numerous  retinue  of  ser- 
vants, Abraham  and  Sarah  with  their  own  hands  minister  to 
the  weary  strangers,  Avithholding  nothing  their  comfort  de- 
manded. While  directing  them  on  their  way,  the  Lord 
disclosed  to  Abraham  his  purpose  concerning  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah,  which  gave  rise  to  those  successive  intercessions 
that  the  place  might  be  spared  in  consideration  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  righteous  persons  being  found ;  at  first  Jifty,  and 
finally  reduced  to  ten. 

The  lack  of  even  these  insured  the  destruction  of  the 
city,  and  Abraham  soon  left  Mamre,  and  journeyed  toward 
Gerar.  On  his  way  he  seems  to  have  been  guilty  oi prevar- 
ication, similar  to  that  shown  on  a  former  occasion,  in  de- 
nying the  true  relation  between  himself  and  Sarah.  It  was 
an  unworthy  expedient,  which  the  cuxumstances  may  palli- 
ate, but  not  justify. 

The  time  hastened  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise,  and 
to  their  inexpressible  joy,  Isaac  was  given  unto  them.  "  The 
child  grew  and  was  weaned,"  and  amid  the  rejoicings  of  the 
feast  made  on  that  eventful  day,  "  Sarah  saw  the  son  of  Hagar, 
the  Egyptian,  which  she  had  borne  unto  Abraham,  mocking." 

This  excited  her  indignation,  and  procured  the  expulsion 
of  both  mother  and  son.  With  a  scanty  supply  of  provis- 
ion, and  a  bottle  of  water,  they  were  sent  away,  and  wan- 
dered in  the  wilderness  of  Beersheba,  till  both  were  well 
nigh  spent,  and  death  seemed  inevitable. 

To  screen  her  child  from  the  intense  heat,  Hagar  placed 
him  in  the  shade,  and  departed  a  httle  way  that  she  might 
not  witness  the  dying  scene. 

As  she  sat  in  tearful  silence,  her  eyes  were  opened  to  dis- 
cover a  well  of  water,  upon  which  she  eagerly  filled  her 
bottle,  and  hastened  to  the  fainting  sufferer,  who  was  imme- 
diately revived  by  the  refreshing  draught,  and  enabled  to 
go  on  his  way. 

For  some  time  he  dwelt  in  the  wilderness  of  Paran,  but 
afterward  had  intercourse  with  Isaac,  as  will  be  seen. 


28  ABRAHAM. 

But  little  is  said  of  Isaac's  early  youth,  yet  the  moment- 
ous period  in  his  history  arrives. 

Isaac,  the  heir  of  the  promises,  has  grown  up  to  be  a 
young  man,  probably  not  less  than  twenty  years  of  age ; 
and  the  father  rests  happy  in  his  tent,  blessed  with  the  favor 
of  God,  and  beholding  in  his  son  the  accomplishment  of 
all  his  hopes. 

Suddenly  the  command  comes  :  "  Take  now  thy  son, 
thine  only  son,  Isaac,  whom  thou  lovest,  and  get  thee  into 
the  land  of  Moriah,  and  offer  him  there  for  a  burnt-offering 
upon  one  of  the  mountains  which  I  will  tell  thee  of." 

Every  word  was  fit  to  rend  his  heart,  and  did  doubtless 
rend  it.     And  what  did  he  say  ?     Nothing. 

We  may  conceive  much  that  he  might  have  said ;  but 
Abraham  said  nothing ;  he  did  as  he  was  commanded. 

He  was  not  only  obedient,  but  he  was  prompt  and  fore- 
thoughtful in  his  obedience. 

There  might  be  no  suitable  materials  for  the  intended 
sacrifice  at  the  spot  to  which  he  was  going ;  he  therefore 
prepares  everything  before  he  sets  out ;  even  the  wood  to 
form  the  fire  which  is  to  consume  his  son,  he  prepares  and 
takes  with  him.  He  appears  anxious  that  there  shall  be  no 
sign  on  his  part  of  lingering,  reluctant  delay.  He  rises 
"  early  in  the  morning,"  and  attended  by  two  servants  and 
his  only  child,  proceeds  on  his  painful  journey. 

AVhat  must  have  been  his  feelings  as  upon  the  third  day 
the  mountain  loomed  upon  his  sight. 

Bidding  his  servants  tarry  behind,  the  father  and  son  went 
on,  and  what  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  the  former,  as 
the  question  fell  upon  his  ear,  and  touched  his  heart,  "  My 
father,  where  is  the  victim  ?  "  Doubtless  the  heart  of  the 
youth  was  satisfied,  as  the  reply  came  back,  "  My  son,  God 
will  provide  himself  a  lamb  for  a  burnt-offering." 

They  arrive  at  the  spot ;  the  altar  is  made ;  the  wood  is 
laid  on,  and  Isaac  is  bound,  and  laid  upon  the  altar.  The 
father's  hand  is  uplifted  to  fall  upon  the  life  of  his  son ;  but 
it  fell  not.  The  stroke  is  stayed  by  a  quick  and  sudden 
word  from  Heaven  to  desist,  for  the  purpose  was  gained. 


ABRAHAM.  29 

With  fingers  tremblingly  glad  did  the  father  then  unbind 
his  son ;  and  with  what  rejoicing  spirits  did  not  both  father 
and  son  join  in  offering  up  the  victim  which  the  Lord  had 
provided  —  a  ram  caught  by  the  horns  in  a  thicket  hard  by. 

The  world's  history  presents  nothing  like  this.  The 
instances  which  have  sometimes  been  cited  as  parallel,  will 
not  stand  comparison  with  it. 

The  Lord's  own  estimate  of  its  importance  and  value  is 
shown  in  the  crowning  recompense  of  his  high  approval  and 
blessing;  a  blessing  the  most  full,  emphatic,  and  solemn 
ever  pronounced  by  God  upon  man. 

Soon  after  this  he  is  called  to  part  with  his  beloved  com- 
panion, and  obtaining  from  the  "  sons  of  Heth"  a  burying- 
place,  his  affectionate  Sarah  was  buried  from  his  sight. 
Deeply  he  mourned  for  her,  but  doubtless  his  faith  enabled 
him  to  look  up  and  bless  the  hand  that  took.  He  seems  now 
to  have  reached  an  advanced  age,  and  to  be  fully  conscious 
that  his  earthly  pilgrimage  was  drawing  to  a  close. 

Desirous  of  seeing  his  son  finally  settled  in  life  before  his 
departure,  he  called  his  faithful  confidential  servant  to  his 
side,  and  bade  him  go  to  his  own  country  and  kindred,  and 
select  there  a  partner  for  Isaac,  for  there  the  true  religion 
had  been  in  some  measure  preserved,  and  from  the  pious 
circles  alone  he  would  choose  his  bosom  companion. 

A  doubt  being  expressed  by  Eliezer  of  his  probable  suc- 
cess, Abraham  replied  :  "  the  Lord  wdll  send  his  angel  before 
thee,"  thus  showing  his  strong  confidence  in  God,  that  the 
great  designs  for  which  he  had  brought  him  from  his  own 
kindred  to  propagate  the  true  religion  in  the  earth  would  be 
accomplished ;  and  that  therefore,  when  earthly  instruments 
failed,  heavenly  ones  should  be  employed. 

The  Divine  blessing  secured  to  them  a  satisfactory  result, 
and  Abrahain  proceeded  to  arrange  his  worldly  affairs  ere 
his  final  exit  from  earth.  Having  awarded  a  portion  to  each 
of  his  sons,  he  sent  them  from  Isaac,  leaving  the  latter  to 
the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of  his  w^hole  possession.  This 
done,  Abraham  "  died  in  a  good  old  age,"  having  seen  a  hun- 
dred threescore  and  fifteen  years. 


30 


ABRAHAM. 


Satisfied  with  life,  he  left  it  with  a  hope  full  of  immor- 
tality, for  he  saw  the  day  of  Christ  and  was  glad. 

His  sons  Isaac  and  Ishmael  joined  in  doing  the  last  sad 
offices  to  a  parent  who  was  an  honor  to  them  and  to  human 
nature. 

Here  we  see  to  what  a  state  of  moral  excellence  the  grace 
of  God  can  exalt  a  character,  when  there  is  simple,  implicit 
faith,  and  prompt  obedience.  Abraham  walked  before  God, 
and  Abraham  was  ycrfect. 

Perhaps  no  human  being  ever  exhibited  a  fairer,  fuller 
portrait  of  the  perfect  man  than  Abraham.  He  has  mani- 
fested in  his  own  person  those  virtues  for  which  reason  and 
philosophy  could  scarcely  find  out  names,  when  trying  to 
sketch  the  character  of  their  sophist — ivise  or  perfect  man. 

"Without  being  under  the  law,  he  performed  the  most 
essential  duties  it  requires ;  and  as  to  the  gospel,  its  grand 
object  was  that  on  which  he  had  fixed  his  eye — that  Jesus 
whose  day  he  rejoiced  to  see  ;  and  as  to  its  spii'it  and 
design,  they  were  wondrously  exemplified  in  that  faith  which 
was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness,  receiving  that  grace 
which  conformed  his  whole  heart  and  life  to  the  will  of  his 
Maker,  and  enabled  him  to  persevere  unto  death. 

As  a  son,  as  a  husband,  as  a  father,  as  a  neighbor,  as  a 
sovereign,  and  above  all  as  a  man  of  God,  he  stands  unri- 
valed ;  so  that  under  the  more  exalted  and  perfect  of  all 
dispensations,  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  proposed  and 
recommended  as  the  model  and  pattern  according  to  which 
the  faith,  obedience  and  perseverance  of  the  followers  of  the 
Messiah  are  to  be  formed. 

Happy  for  all,  if  like  Abraham,  regardless  of  all  conse- 
quences, they  follow  the  directions  of  God's  word,  and  the 
openings  of  his  providence,  leaving  all  events  to  Him  who 
doth  all  things  well. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HIS  MARRIAGE;  REMOVAL  TO  GERAR;  SETTLEMENT  AT  BEER  SHEBA; 

IGNORANT  BESTOWAL  OF  BLESSING  ON  JACOB ;  HIS 

BLINDNESS  AND  EINAL  DISSOLUTION. 

N  contemplating  the  history  of  Isaac,  we  observe 
the  character  of  one  who  was  not  indeed  exempted 
O  from  his  share  of  the  ills  which  flesh  is  heir  to, 
but  one  whose  afflictions  being  private  and  domes- 
tic, called  him  more  particularly  to  the  exercise  of 
patient  fortitude  and  calm  endurance,  than  any  public  display 
of  signal  virtues. 

He  was  emphatically  a  man  of  peace,  and  the  example  of 
his  piety  and  christian  virtue  did  more  to  instruct  and  bless 
mankind,  than  all  the  conquerors  which  ever  existed,  from 
Nimrod  of  Assyria  down  to  the  present. 

The  first  seventy-five  years  of  the  life  of  Isaac  seem  to  be 
blended  with  that  of  his  illustrious  father ;  and  so  entirely 
subject  Avas  he  to  the  will  of  his  parent,  that  his  own  energies 
were  but  slightly  developed,  and  his  self-reliance  scarcely 
noticeable. 

In  speaking  of  him,  we  shall  only  take  up  those  particulars 
of  his  story  which  are  more  personal  and  peculiar ;  in  which 
he  was  an  aarent  or  a  sufferer. 

We  find  him  at  a  very  early  period  feeling  distress  and 
suffering  persecution ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  almost  all, 
at  least  the  severest  trials,  which  this  patriarch  endured,  arose 
from  his  nearest  and  dearest  relations.  Hated  and  scorned 
from  the  very  first,  by  his  brother  ;  devoted  in  sacrifice,  of 
his  father ;  called  early  to  mourn  the  loss  of  his  affectionate 
mother ;  vexed  continually  with  the  strife  of  his  jealous  sons, 
struggling  for  superiority  ;  mortified  and  grieved  to  the  heart, 
with  the  inconsiderate,  unwise,  idolatrous  marriages  of  his 

(31) 


32 


ISAAC. 


favorite  Esau ;  practiced  upon,  and  deceived  in  old  age  and 
blindness,  by  the  address  and  cunning  of  his  wife  and  younger 
son  ;  involved  in  quarrel  upon  quarrel,  with  his  powerful 
neighbors,  through  the  rashness  and  contentiousness  of  his 
servants  ;  never  faulty,  yet  throughout  unfortunate. 

The  memorable  transaction  on  Mount  Moriah  presents  the 
character  of  Isaac  to  us,  in  admirable  light.  It  was  no  less 
a  proof  of  his  faith,  than  of  Abraham  himself.  As  the  obe- 
dience of  the  father  was  prompt  and  cheerful,  so  was  that  of 
his  son.  If  the  resignation  of  Abraham  merits  praise,  the 
submission  of  Isaac  claims  no  less  ;  for  his  consent  must 
undoubtedly  have  been  obtained.  In  both  it  was  "  a  living, 
sacrifice,  holy,  acceptable  unto  God,  and  a  reasonable  service ;" 
and  the  blessing  pronounced  from  heaven  on  that  occasion, 
applied  to  both,  equally  and  in  the  same  manner. 

The  next  important  event  of  Isaac's  life,  upon  the  sacred 
record,  is  his  marriage.  Swallowed  up  in  sorrow  for  the  loss 
of  his  mother,  or  absorbed  in  devout  meditation,  he  leaves  all 
concern  about  his  future  fortunes,  and  establishment  in  the 
world,  to  the  care  and  wisdom  of  his  father. 

He  commissioned  his  faithful  servant  to  go  to  his  own  kin- 
dred, to  choose  a  companion  for  his  son,  and  with  duly  solemn 
preparation  the  messenger  went  forth  on  his  important  errand. 

In  the  various  particulars  of  this  transaction,  we  have  a 
beautiful  and  interesting  picture  of  the  simplicity  of  ancient 
manners  and  customs.  It  is  an  excellent  commentary  upon 
that  injunction  of  the  wise  man,  "  In  all  thy  ways  acknowl- 
edge God,  and  he  shall  dii-ect  thy  paths."  Abraham's  servant 
ifnplored  the  Divine  guidance,  and  hardly  had  he  finished  his 
address  to  heaven,  when  lo.  Providence,  which  works  unseen, 
unknown,  unobserved  by  us,  brought  the  subject  of  his 
prayer,  the  object  of  his  search,  directly  before  him,  in  the 
person  of  the  fair  Rebekah. 

Fully  satisfied  she  was  the  destined  bride  of  Isaac,  he  took 
her  to  his  master's  tent,  and  as  he  neared  those  peaceful 
shades,  where  was  the  one  particularly  interested  in  his  return  ? 

He  had  gone  out  "  to  meditate,  or  to  pray,  in  the  field  at 
the  eventide."     This  is  the  leading,  prevailing  lineament  in 


ISAAC.  33 

the  good  man's  character  ;  a  heart  tuned  to  devotion,  an 
eye  continually  directed  toward  heaven. 

The  faith  of  Isaac,  placid  and  contemplative,  sought  the 
happiness  of  communion  with  God  in  calmness  and  solitude, 
and  ever  satisfied  itself  with  the  secret,  untumultuous  delight 
of  beholding  his  family  built  up,  and  the  promises  of  God 
advancing  to  their  accomplishment. 

He  continued  to  abide  in  his  father's  tent,  quietly  tending 
his  flocks  for  many  years.  God's  blessing  attended  him, 
and  sons  were  given  them. 

Death  came,  at  length,  and  removed  from  him  his  aged 
parent.  Hitherto  he  had  trusted  every  thing  to  the  wisdom 
and  affection  of  his  kind  father  ;  but  now,  his  own  children 
growing  up  fast  upon  him,  he  is  under  the  necessity  of  aris- 
ing and  exerting  himself. 

"We  accordingly  find  him,  with  the  prudent  sagacity  of  a 
good  husband,  father,  and  master,  directing  the  removal  of 
his  family  from  place  to  place,  as  occasionally  circumstances 
rendered  necessary ;  forming  alliances  with  his  powerful 
neighbors,  for  their  mutual  security ;  and  presiding  in  the 
offices  of  religion,  his  favorite  employment. 

The  distresses  which  embittered  the  remainder  of  Isaac's 
life,  were  chiefly  internal  and  domestic, — having  their  source 
in  his  own  infirmity — a  fond  partiality  in  favor  of  his  eldest 
son.  While  his  family  was  thus  torn  with  internal  dissen- 
sion. Providence  was  pleased  to  visit  him  with  a  grievous 
external  calamity. 

A  famine  in  the  land  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  seek  a 
new  home.  By  Divine  intimation  he  turned  aside  from 
Egypt,  the  land  which  had  afl'orded  his  father  shelter,  and 
retired  to  Gerar,  a  city  of  Palestine. 

Here  he  grew  so  rich  and  great,  the  people  became  envi- 
ous of  him.  That  dark,  malignant  passion  prompted  his 
jealous  foes  to  cut  off  one  source  of  his  wealth,  by  depriving 
him  of  his  wells  of  water,  and  thus  destroying  his  flocks. 

The  peace-loving  spirit  of  Isaac  prudently  gives  way,  and 
withdrawing  the  hated  object  from  before  the  eyes  of  envy, 
he  pitches  his  tent  in  the  valley  of  Gerar. 


34  ISAAC. 

He  finds  himself  still  pursued  by  the  pride  and  selfishness 
of  his  neighbors  ;  but  at  length  conquers  by  yielding, — a 
victory  the  most  certain,  the  most  honorable,  and  the  most 
satisfactory. 

Finally,  to  prevent,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  every  ground  of 
quarrel,  he  fixes  his  residence  at  a  still  greater  distance.  "  He 
went  up  from  thence  to  Beer  sheba ;"  where,  feeling  himself 
at  home,  after  so  many  removals,  he  at  once  pitches  his  tent 
for  repose,  and  builds  an  altar  for  religion  ;  and  the  hatred  and 
violence  of  man  is  lost  and  forgotten  in  communion  with  God. 

A  delightful  calm  of  eighteen  years  ensued,  of  which  no 
traces  remain  to  inform  or  instruct  men,  but  which  from  the 
well  known  character  of  this  patriarch,  we  may  well  suppose 
were  spent  in  such  a  manner  as  to  be  had  in  everlasting  re- 
membrance before  God. 

At  the  close  of  this  period,  his  domestic  tranquillity  was 
again  cruelly  disturbed,  and,  by  his  favorite  son ;  who,  in  the 
fortieth  year  of  his  own  life,  and  hundredth  of  his  father's, 
introduced  two  idolatrous  wives  at  once  into  the  holy  fiimily. 

Whether  it  was  from  the  vexation  occasioned  by  this 
event,  from  disease,  from  accident,  or  some  natural  weak- 
ness in  the  organs  of  sight,  we  are  not  informed,  but  we 
find  Isaac,  in  the  one  hundred  and  thirty-fifth  year  of  his 
life,  in  a  state  of  total  blindness ;  and  he  was  probably  vis- 
ited with  the  loss  of  that  sense  at  a  much  earlier  period,' 
Forty-five  years,  at  least,  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage,  were 
passed  in  this  dark  and  comfortless  state. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  period,  we  find  Isaac  sensible  of 
his  groAving  infirmities,  feeling  the  approach  of  death, 
though  ignorant  of  the  day  of  it,  and  anxious  to  convey  the 
double  portion,  the  patriarchal  benediction,  and  the  cove- 
nant promise,  according  to  the  bent  of  his  natural  affection, 
to  his  elder  and  more  beloved  son. 

He  calls  him  with  accents  of  paternal  tenderness,  and  pro- 
poses to  him  the  mingled  gratification  of  pursuing  his  own 
favorite  amusement,  of  ministering  to  his  fond  father's  pleas- 
ure, and  of  securing  to  himself  the  great  object  of  his  am- 
bition and  desire,  the  blessing,  with  all  its  valuable  effects. 


4 


JACOB.  35 

Then  follows  the  deception  of  Rebekah  and  Jacob,  with 
all  its  unhappy  consequences ;  depriving  the  elder  of  his 
birthright,  and  securing  the  blessing  to  the  younger. 

The  alienation  of  the  two  brothers  rendered  the  departure 
of  one  necessary,  and  with  his  father's  farewell  benediction 
Jacob  left  the  paternal  roof,  which  could  shelter  and  protect 
him  no  longer. 

Isaac  lived  to  be  refreshed  with  the  good  tidings  of  the  suc- 
cess of  the  blessing,  and  the  happy  increase  of  Jacob's  family. 

At  last,  old  and  full  of  days,  he  drops  into  the  grave.  He 
was  gathered  to  his  people,  at  the  advanced  age  of  an  hundred 
and  fourscore  years.  Thus  lived  and  died  Isaac,  the  son  of 
Abraham,  a  man  of  contemplation,  piety,  and  peace.  A  man 
of  few  and  slight  infirmities  ;  of  many  and  eminent  virtues. 

A  man  whom  Providence  tried  with  multiplied  and  se- 
vere afflictions  ;  and  whom  faith  strengthened  to  bear  them 
with  patience  and  fortitude. 

His  excellencies  are  such  as  all  may,  by  due  cultivation, 
acquire ;  his  virtues  such  as  all  may  imitate. 

His  faults  are  those  to  which  even  good  men  are  liable, 
and  which  they  are  the  more  concerned  to  avoid  or  to  amend. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

larch, 

JOUENEY  TO  PADAX-ARAil ;  HEAYEXLT  MAXIFESTATIOX  AT  BETHEL ;  DE- 
CEPTIVE MARRIAGE  WITH  LEAH  ;  OBTAINS  RACHEL  ;  RETURNS  TO 
HIS  KINDRED  ;  MOURNS  THE  LOSS  OF  JOSEPH ;  IS  RESTORED  TO 
HIM,  AND  HIS  DECLINING  DAYS  RENDERED  HAPPY. 

jHE  person  on  whose  history  we  are  now  entering 
is  the  third  in  order  and  succession  of  the  illus- 
trious three  who  are  distinguished  in  Scripture 
as  the  covenant  friends  of  God,  and  the  ensam- 
ples  of  all  them  who  in  after  ages  should  be- 
lieve.    "  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Isaac, 


56 


JACOB. 


and  the  God  of  Jacob."  Thus  it  is  spoken  of  the  men 
whom  the  King  of  Kings  delighteth  to  honor  ;  and  what  is 
rank  and  title,  among  men,  compared  to  this  ? 

Jacob  was,  by  the  ordinance  of  heaven,  destined  to  pre- 
eminence and  superiority  before  he  was  born,  and  he  who 
could  have  raised  him  to  the  rights  of  primogeniture,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature,  was  pleased, — such  is  divine 
sovereignty, — to  bestow  this  advantage  upon  him,  by  the 
concurrence  of  various  providential  events. 

By  nature  Jacob  seemed  formed  for  social  and  domestic 
life,  abiding  at  home  in  the  tents,  attending  to  family  affairs, 
cultivating  filial  affections,  and  living  in  the  exercise  of  filial 
duties. 

The  first  action  of  his  life,  however,  which  we  find  re- 
corded by  the  sacred  historian,  is  by  no  means  calculated  to 
give  us  a  favorable  impression  of  his  heart. 

It  is  the  subtility  with  which  he  stole  the  prophetic  bene- 
diction, and  raised  up  against  himself  an  implacable  foe  in 
the  person  of  his  own  brother. 

From  this  time  he  was  forced  to  become  an  exile  and  a 
wanderer  from  his  father's  house,  in  order  to  insure  the 
safety  of  his  life.  Solitary  and  alone,  with  no  inheritance 
but  the  staff  in  his  hand,  he  turned  his  attention  to  a  distant 
land  ;  the  early  home  of  his  mother. 

The  uneasy  reflections  arising  from  solitude,  and  inspired 
by  a  gradual  removal  from  the  scenes  of  his  youthful  and 
happy  days,  must  have  been  greatly  embittered  to  Jacob,  by 
the  consciousness  of  his  having  brought  all  upon  himself; 
by  the  keenness  of  disappointment,  in  the  very  moment 
when  the  spirits  were  wound  up  to  their  highest  tone  through 
success,  and  by  total  darkness  and  uncertainty  with  respect 
to  his  future  fortunes. 

However,  the  cheerfulness  of  light,  the  pleasing  change 
and  variety  of  natural  objects  as  he  journeyed  on,  the  ardor 
and  confidence  of  youthful  blood  and  spirits,  carry  him  with 
confidence  and  joy  through  the  day. 

But  ah  !  what  is  to  becoine  of  him  when  the  sun  declines, 
and  the  evenins:  shadows  lengthen  ? 


JACOB.  37 

Overtaken  at  once  by  liungei-  and  fatigue,  darkness  and 
apprehension,  where  shall  he  seek  shelter — where  find  re- 
pose ?  Happily,  calamity  strengthens  that  soul  which  it  is 
unable  to  subdue. 

The  strong  hand  of  necessity  is  upon  Jacob  ;  submit  he 
must,  and  therefore  he  submits  with  alacrity. 

Behold  the  heir  of  Abraham  and  of  Isaac,  without  a  place 
where  to  lay  his  head ;  that  head  which  maternal  tenderness 
had  taken  pleasure  4o  pillow  so  softly,  and  to  watch  so 
affectionately. 

"  He  lighted  upon  a  certain  place  and  tarried  there  all 
night,  because  the  sun  was  set ;  and  he  took  of  the  stones 
of  that  place,  and  put  them  for  his  pillow,  and  lay  down  in 
that  place  to  sleep." 

Truly,  "  Sweet  are  the  uses  of  adversity.^' 

Jacob,  removed  from  his  earthly  parents,  is  but  the  nearer 
to  his  Heavenly  Father ;  a  stranger  in  the  waste  howling 
wilderness,  he  is  at  home  with  God.  Cares  perplex  his 
waking  thoughts,  but  angels  in  bands  lull  his  anxious  breast 
to  peace.  Who  does  not  pity  the  pilgrim  as  the  evening 
shades  gather  and  close  around  his  head  ?  Who  does  not 
envy  his  felicity  when  the  morning  light  appears,  and  with 
it,  the  recollection  of  a  night  passed  in  communion  with 
God? 

*The  great  plan  of  Divine  Providence,  upholding  all 
things,  observing  all  things,  subduing  all  things  to  his  will, 
was  feelingly  conveyed  to  him  in  his  night  vision. 

It  was  much  to  hear  a  repetition  of  the  covenant  of  God 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac,  his  fathers,  ratified  and  confirmed 
to  himself.  It  was  much  to  hear  the  blessing  lately  pro- 
nounced over  him  by  the  prophetic  lips  of  his  earthly  pa- 
rent, conveyed  to  his  ear  by  a  voice  infinitely  more  sacred. 
It  was  much  to  hear  that  the  land  Avhich  he  then  occupied 
with  his  weary  limbs,,  as  a  way-faring  man  who  continueth 
but  for  a  night,  should  afterward  be  given  to  him  and  to 
his  seed  for  a  possession.  It  was  much  to  hear  from  the 
mouth  of  God  himself  the  blessed  assurance  of  protection 
through  his  journey,  of  success  in  his  undertaking,  and  of  a 


38  JACOB. 

safe  return  to  Ills  native  home.  It  was  much  to  hear  of  a 
posterity,  innumerable  as  the  sand  upon  the  sea-shore,  and 
spreading  to  the  four  winds  of  heaven.  But  the  essence  of 
all  these  promises,  the  joy  of  all  this  joy,  was  to  hear  the 
renewed,  the  reiterated  promise  of  a  seed  descending  from 
him,  in  whom  ''  all  the  families  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed." 

What  could  Jacob  ask  ?  What  had  God  to  bestow  more 
than  this  ? 

What  wonder  if  the  mind  of  the  patriarch  was  filled  with 
holy  dread,  as  he  awoke  conscious  of  Divine  presence. 
He  arose,  and  erected  a  monument  of  such  simple  materials 
as  the  place  afforded,  to  the  memory  of  the  heavenly  vision, 
which  he  was  desirous  to  impress  forever  upon  his  heart. 

Cheered  and  supported  by  the  remembrance  of  this  vision, 
and  animated  with  the  hope  of  a  happy  meeting  of  his 
friends  and  relations  at  Padan-aram,  he  went  on  his  way 
rejoicing ;  and  guided,  protected  and  sustained  by  an  indul- 
gent Providence,  he  arrived  in  safety. 

A  protracted  stay  in  the  ftimily  of  his  uncle  only  served 
to  enlist  more  strongly  his  affection  for  the  beautiful  maiden 
who  had  met  him  upon  his  first  coming.  The  consent  of 
all  parties  gained,  he  sought  to  make  her  his  own ;  but  he 
who  by  subtility  and  falsehood  stole  away  the  blessing  in- 
tended for  his  brother,  is  punished  for  his  deceit  by  finding 
a  Leah  where  he  expected  a  Rachel. 

He  who  availed  himself  of  an  undue  advantage  to  arrive 
at  the  right  of  the  first-born,  has  an  undue  advantage  taken  of 
him,  in  having  the  first-born  put  in  the  place  of  the  younger. 

The  cherished  object  of  his  affections,  however,  must  be 
his,  and  seven  additional  years  of  servitude  are  willingly 
endured  to  gain  the  prize. 

Diligently  regarding  the  interests  of  his  father-in-law,  he 
remained  with  him,  till  impressed  with  his  obligation  to 
provide  for  the  maintenance  of  his  own  numerous  family, 
he  wished  for  distinct  possessions  and  another  home.  The 
selfish  Laban  could  not  forearo  the  blessinars  he  had  received 
on  Jacob's  account,  and  refused  to  let  him  go. 

But  after  twenty  years  of  hard  service,  he  wearied  with 


• 


# 


JACOB.  39 

tlie  exactions  of  his  ungenerous  kinsman,  and  set  out  secretly 
for  the  land  of  Canaan.  He  was  hotly  pursued,  and  with  a 
hostile  disposition  by  his  father-in-law,  and  overtaken  on 
the  seventh  day  in  Mt.  Gilead.  Providence  once  more 
interposes  for  him,  and  a  covenant  of  peace  and  good  will  is 
ratified  between  them,  which  enables  Jacob  to  go  on  his  way 
toward  Canaan  rejoicing. 

Scarcely  had  the  farewell  been  pronounced,  ere  we  find 
the  angels  of  God  pressing  forward  to  meet  him,  and  in  the 
extraordinary  scene  which  followed,  a  new  and  honorable 
name  was  given  to  Jacob,  even  Israel, — prince  with  God. 

Hardly  had  this  ended  when  the  interview  with  Esau 
hastened  on.  It  came,  and  with  it  an  agreeable  surprise,  for 
he  found  only  Jcindness  and  affection,  where  he  expected  anger 
and  resentment.  They  soon  parted, — Esau  to  his  own  pos- 
sessions in  Mt.  Seir, — Jacob  to  visit  his  aged  father,  who  was 
still  livinsr. 

"What  mixed  emotions  must  have  agitated  his  mind  as  he 
presented  his  family  to  his  venerable  parent !  How  fervent 
must  have  been  their  gratitude,  as  they  mutually  recounted 
the  goodness  of  God  to  them  in  those  long  years  of  separation. 

Sorrowful  reflections,  indeed,  mingled  with  joyous  feeling, 
for  when  he  looked  upon  his  particularly  beloved  children, 
Joseph  and  Benjamin,  he  could  but  think  of  his  dear  depart- 
ed Rachel,  whose  precious  dust  they  had  left  behind. 

He  purchased  an  estate,  spread  his  tent,  but  where  is  rest 
for  the  patriarch  ?  Calamity  is  yet  to  succeed  calamity,  and 
the  climax  of  suffering  seemed  at  hand,  when  suddenly  his 
favorite  son  was  torn  from  him,  and  his  fate  to  him  sealed 
with  oblivion. 

At  this  time,  sinking  himself  into  the  dust,  under  the 
pressure  of  a  burden  which  nature  was  unable  to  sustain,  he 
was  called  to  lay  his  honored  father  in  the  grave,  while  grief 
itself  was  hastening  him  to  his  last,  long  home.  He  knows 
not  yet  the  providential  concurrence  of  circumstances,  that 
are  coming  to  shed  light  upon  his  path,  and  joy  upon  his 
soul.  Days  of  darkness  and  famine  ill  betoken  them,  but 
such  the  result  should  be.     When  Egyptian  plenty  attracted 


^ 


40 


JACOB, 


his  family  thitlier  for  supplies,  little  did  the  old  man's  heart 
conceive  what  was  in  store  for  him  there.  Much  less  when 
his  dearest  earthly  hope — his  darling  Benjamin,  was  required, 
was  he  conscious  of  the  plan  of  mercy,  God,  even  then,  was 
workina:  for  him. 

What  overpowering  emotions  must  have  been  his,  when 
the  tidings  came  back,  "  Joseph  is  yet  alive,"  and  that  too, 
in  a  position  of  distinguished  royalty.  The  splendid  retinue 
sent  to  convey  him  to  his  long-lost  son,  forbids  his  doubt, 
and  leaving  his  home  in  Canaan,  he  with  all  his  house  seek 
the  promised  asylum  in  a  land  of  plenty,  more  grateful  still 
as  the  scene  which  Joseph  graced. 

We  incline  rather  to  gaze  in  silence  upon  that  meeting 
between  father  and  son,  for  that  long,  tearful  embrace,  that 
rush  of  feeling,  those  overpowering  recollections,  find  not 
their  expression  in  words. 

The  presentation  to  Pharaoh,  the  sage  conduct  of  the  pa- 
triarch, the  filial  devotion  of  the  son,  the  clemency  of  the 
king,  all  combine  to  form  an  admirable  picture,  such  as  is 
rarely  given  us. 

Seventeen  years  of  unruffled  tranquillity  Jacob  passed  in 
Egypt,  enjoying  the  most  complete  of  all  human  gratifica- 
tions— that  of  witnessing  the  prosperity,  and  experiencing 
the  attachment  of  a  favorite  and  dutiful  child. 

Having  obtained  the  security  that  his  body  should  be  con- 
veyed to  the  repose  of  Macpelah's  cave,  he  set  his  heart  at 
rest,  feeling  for  himself  no  further  worldly  concern. 

The  sun  has  shone  upon  his  head  at  length,  but  not  till  it 
was  covered  with  gray  hairs. 

He  has  found  his  Joseph  again,  and  even  embraced  Ms 
sons ;  but  not  till  the  hands  are  reduced  to  do  the  office  of 
the  eyes.  He  walks  down  the  steejD  of  life  in  tranquillity, 
but  his  limbs  tremble  under  him,  and  he  fast  arrives  at  that 
point  to  which  the  sorrows  and  joys  of  life  equally  tend,  in 
which  all  events  of  whatever  complexion,  must  finally  issue. 

Feeling  in  himself  the  approach  of  dissolution,  and  warned 
by  that  spirit  who  had  been  his  comforter  in  all  his  tribula- 
tions, he    ummons  his  children  to  his  presence,   and,  with 


JOSEPH.  41 

a  mixture  of  paternal  tenderness  and  severity,  anxiety  and 
confidence,  administers  his  last  dying  counsels. 

His  work  is  done  ;  nature  can  do  no  more  ;  the  voice  fails, 
the  limbs  contract,  the  breath  departs,  the  artery  beats  no 
more  ;  the  heart  of  Jacob  is  at  length  at  rest. 

His  life  of  one  hundred  and  forty- seven  years  is  ended  j 
of  "vvhich  not  above  a  ninth  part  of  it  passed  in  any  tolerable 
degree  of  peace  and  comfort,  and  that  portion  of  it  at  a  pe- 
riod when  the  heart  has  scarcely  any  taste  of  pleasure  at  all. 

Slowly  and  sadly  they  bore  him  to  his  last  resting  place, 
in  Canaan ;  but  why  should  they  mourn  the  good  man's 
pilgrimage  ended,  which  he  had  long  since  pronounced 
"Evil"  indeed. 

Tew  men  have  experienced  greater  varieties,  greater  re- 
verses of  condition  than  the  patriarch,  Jacob.  But  we  find 
him  perpetually  gathering  strength  from  the  hardships  which 
he  endured,  supporting  a  life  of  uninterrupted,  unutterable 
affliction  with  patience  and  fortitude,  suffering  and  feeling  as 
a  man,  but  enduring  and  overcoming  as  a  saint,  and  at 
length  closing  the  extended  scene  of  woe  with  the  triumph 
of  a  believer  exulting  in  the  bright,  unclouded  prospects  of 
immortality. 


CHAPTER    V. 

HIS  DREAMS ;  SOLD  BY  HIS  BRETHREN ;  IMRRISONED  IN  EGYPT ;  HIS  PINAL 

PROMOTION ;  MAKES  HIMSELF  KNOWN  TO  HIS  BRETHREN  ;    SENDS 

FOR  HIS  FATHER;  DEATH  AT  AN  ADVANCED  AGE. 

FTEE.  the  statement  of  the  single  circumstance 
of  his  birth,  we  hear  nothing  more  of  Joseph, 
until  he  attained  his  seventeenth  year,  when 
the  sacred  historian  introduces  him  to  us  with 
wonderful  art  and  skill. 
From  the  very  first  moment  we  become  interested  in  him. 
He  is  the   son  of   beauteous  Rachel,  who    had  long    since 


42  JOSEPH. 

pillowed  her  head  in  the  grave, — and  the  darling  object  of 
his  father's  affections. 

One  of  the  earliest  things  related  of  him  is  his  recital  of 
significant  dreams  to  his  brethren  and  to  his  father,  exciting 
the  envy  of  the  former,  and  incurring  the  rebuke  of  the  latter. 
Notwithstanding  his  parent's  reproof,  he  "  observed  the  say- 
ings," and  doubtless  considered  the  doubling  of  the  vision, 
and  its  coinciding  purport,  as  portending  something  great 
and  good  for  his  beloved  child,  though  imagination  conceived 
not  its  rapid  conclusion,  or  the  extraordinary  means  which 
would  be  used  for  its  accomplishment. 

The  sons  of  Jacob,  tending  their  flocks  at  a  distance,  pro- 
longed their  absence  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  excite  the  appre- 
hensions of  a  loving  parent.  Anxious  to  know  of  their  wel- 
fare, he  sent  Joseph  on  the  kindly  errand  of  inquiry.  Our 
tender  interest  is  now  strongly  excited  for  the  hapless  youth. 
A  lad  gf  seventeen,  who  had  never  till  now  been  from 
beneath  the  protection  of  paternal  care  and  tenderness ; 
whose  face  "the  wind  of  heaven  "  had  never  hitherto  "visited 
too  roughly  ;"  whose  spirit  mortification  had  never  galled ; 
whose  heart  affliction  had  never  yet  pierced, — thrown  at  once 
into  the  wide  world,  missing  his  way  in  an  unknown  country, 
exposed  to  varied  danger ;  coming  at  length  to  the  place  of 
his  destination,  but  disappointed  of  finding  what  he  looked 
for  there  ;  and  finally,  falling  into  the  hands  of  cruel,  merci- 
less men,  where  he  expected  loving  brothers.  He  comes  to 
them  with  words  of  peace,  with  kind  and  affectionate  inqui- 
ries after  their  health  and  prosperity.  They  meet  him  with 
looks  of  aversion,  with  words  of  contempt  and  hatred,  with 
thoughts  of  blood. 

The  trifling  incident  of  the  dreams  lies  rankling  in  their 
bosoms.      "Behold,"  say  they,  "this  dreamer  cometh." 

How  different  the  reception  from  what  he  fondly  expected ! 
They  stript  him  of  his  coat, — the  gift  of  his  father, — and 
rudely  cast  him  into  a  pit,  with  no  other  prospect  before  him 
but  a  lingering  death. 

"What  must  this  have  been  to  a  heart  like  Joseph's,  trem- 
blingly alive  to  the  keenest  sensations  of  pain ;  acquainted, 


JOSEPH.  43 

till  then,  only  with  gentleness  and  indulgence,  and  now 
dreadfully  awakened  to  perceive  the  full  extent  of  his 
misery  ? 

Providential  deliverance,  however,  was  at  hand. 

It  was  so  ordered  of  heaven,  that  a  traveling  company  or 
caravan  of  Ishmaelitish  merchants  passed  by,  in  the  course 
of  their  traffic  to  Egypt. 

A  thought  occurred  to  Judah,  whose  heart  began  somewhat 
to  relent,  that  an  opportunity  offered  of  ridding  themselves 
of  their  hated  rival,  without  incurring  the  guilt  of  shedding 
his  blood,  and  that  was  to  sell  him  as  a  slave.  No  sooner  was 
this  proposal  made,  than  it  was  assented  to,  and  they  quieted 
their  consciences  that  no  voice  would  ever  come  from  the 
distant  land  to  tell  the  tale  of  their  fearful  wrongs. 

The  hard-hearted  band  go  back  to  their  father's  house,  and 
witness  the  hopeless  anguish  of  a  parent,  without  giving  him 
one  ray  of  hope  that  he  yet  lived,  or  consolation  of  ajiy  sort 
to  mitigate  his  sorrow,  and  he  saw  no  alternative, — the  muti- 
lated garment  of  his  son  bespoke  him  the  victim  of  violence, 
and  he  was  dead.     As  such  he  mourned  him. 

Joseph  meanwhile  lives  and  prospers  in  a  strange  land. 
He  is  indeed  from  under  the  shadow  of  his  father's  Aving,  but 
the  protection  of  heaven  is  not  withdrawn. 

With  true  magnanimity  of  spirit,  he  cheerfully  accommo- 
dates his  mind  to  his  situation,  and  without  murmur  or  reluc- 
tance, addresses  himself  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a 
diligent  and  faithful  servant. 

Never  did  Potiphar  make  so  fortunate  a  purchase  as  when 
he  obtained  this  excellent  youth. 

The  blessing  of  God  enters  his  house  from  the  moment  he 
becomes  a  member  of  his  family. 

"  He  made  him  overseer  over  his  house,  and  all  that  he 
had  he  put  into  his  hand." 

A  false  accusation  of  Potiphar's  wife,  however,  soon  de- 
prived him  of  this  position,  and  gave  him  a  home  within 
prison  walls. 

Among  his  fellow-prisoners  were  two  of  the  chief  officers 
of  the  king  of  Egypt,  who  had  fallen  under  their  master's 


44  JOSEPH. 

displeasure,  and  had  been  some  time  in  confinement,  uncer- 
tain of  their  doom. 

The  same  night  they  had  dreams  of  strange  and  inconceiv- 
able import  to  themselves,  which  greatly  saddened  their 
hearts.  Joseph  attending  them  in  the  morning,  observed  the 
deep  concern  which  was  engraved  on  their  countenances ; 
and  sympathy  being  always  one  of  the  native  effusions  of  an 
honest  heart,  he  kindly  inquires  into  the  cause  of  it.  From 
the  different  complexion  of  their  dreams,  and  inspired,  no 
doubt,  by  wisdom  from  above,  he  predicts  their  approaching 
doom:  the  speedy  restoration  of  the  one  to  his  former 
trust  and  dignity ;  a  sudden  and  ignominous  death  to  the 
other. 

Nothing  but  inspiration  could  have  borne  Joseph  through 
a  declaration  so  bold  and  decisive,  and  which  was  to  be 
brought  to  the  awful  test  of  confirmation  or  disappointment 
in  so  short  a  space  as  three  days. 

Inexpressibly  tender  and  pathetic  was  his  appeal  to  the 
one  for  whom  he  pictured  prosperity :  "  Think  on  me  when  it 
shall  be  well  with  thee."  The  happy  day  of  release  came, 
but  the  freed  one,  intent  upon  his  own  pleasure,  forgot  his 
fellow-prisoner,  and  for  two  long  years  remembered  him  not. 
Then  the  mighty  sovereign  of  Egypt  was  troubled  with  vision 
upon  vision,  to  which  proud  magicians  and  boasting  sooth- 
sayers could  affix  no  meaning,  or  guess  at  any  interpretation. 

Then  it  is  the  vmgrateful  recipient  of  Joseph's  favors  be- 
thinks himself  of  his  fault,  and  speaks  of  his  pecuHar  wis- 
dom to  Pharaoh. 

He  was  called  from  his  obscurity,  and  stood  before,  the 
proud  court,  M'ith  the  confidence  which  unaffected  goodness 
always  inspires,  and  calmly  unfolded  the  meaning  and  import 
of  the  king's  dreams. 

Henceforth  his  course  of  life  must  change, — the  humble 
prisoner  becomes  the  prominent  ruler. 

At  this  time  Joseph  was  but  thirty  years  old,  seventeen 
of  which  he  had  passed  under  the  eye  of  a  fond,  indulgent 
father,  and  the  other  thirteen,  at  that  period  of  life  when  the 
heart  is  most  devoted  to  pleasure,  he  had  lingered  away  in  all 


Fainted  tv.E  Bird  RA 


Engraved  by  Wm  U  Suiilli 


Genesis.  Chap  44*Verl2* 


JOSEPH. 


45 


the  variety  of  human  wretchedness ;  but  in  all  the  dignity 
of  virtue,  all  the  superiority  of  wisdom,  all  the  delights,  pure 
and  sublime,  of  true  piety.  And  now,  at  an  age  when  most 
men  are  only  beginning  to  reflect  and  act  as  reasonable  be- 
ings, we  see  him  raised,  not  by  accident,  or  petulance,  but 
by  undisputed  merit,  to  a  situation  which  one  part  of  man- 
kind look  up  to  with  desire,  another  with  awe,  and  a  third 
with  despair. 

See  him  exalted  to  the  right  hand  of  Pharaoh,  made  lord 
over  all  Egypt,  the  lives,  the  conduct,  the  liberties,  the  prop- 
erty of  millions  entrusted  to  his  care,  subjected  to  his  authority. 

Behold  him  married  to  a  princess,  arrayed  in  vestures  of 
fine  linen,  a  gold  chain  about  his  neck,  the  royal  signet  in 
his  hands,  riding  through  the  land  in  the  second  chariot, 
while  admiring  nations  bow  the  knee  before  him. 

At  this  period,  news  of  plenty  in  Egypt  reached  the  land 
of  Canaan,  which  brought  the  ten  sons  of  Jacob  thither  to 
buy  corn  for  their  starving  families. 

.  The  position  of  Joseph,  the  change  thirteen  years  had 
wrought  in  his  appearance,  effectually  disguised  him  from 
their  knowledge,  and  as  they  came  into  his  presence,  the  ten 
proud  spirits  fell  at  the  feet  of  their  unknown  brother. 

Behold  now  the  dream  which  boyish  vanity,  perhaps,  at 
first  suggested,  which  fraternal  jealousy  so  keenly  reprobat- 
ed, -and  so  sternly  avenged,  which  a  father's  wisdom  was 
constrained  to  check  and  reprove,  and  which  incredulity,  no 
doubt,  would  treat  as  the  idle  chimera  of  a  disturbed  imagi- 
nation, verified  and  brought  to  pass. 

A  single  glance  was  sufficient  for  Joseph's  recognition  of 
them,  and  the  indifferent  treatment  he  assumed  toward  them 
ill  accorded  with  the  gushing  emotions  of  his  heart. 

It  excited  in  them  recollections  of  the  past,  and  drew 
forth  an  expression  of  their  mutual  guilt,  which  so  touched 
the  heart  of  the  exalted  brother,  that  he  was  forced  to  re- 
tire to  conceal  his  feelings.  Having  regained  his  composure 
he  renewed  his  inquiries,  and  dismissed  them,  retaining  one 
as  a  pledge  that  they  would  bring  with  them  another  time, 
the  only  remaining  one — the  youthful  Benjamin. 


46  JOSEPH. 

As  time  passed  on,  their  second  arrival  was  announced  to 
Joseph,  and  as  he  entered  their  presence,  the  sight  of  the 
loved  countenance  of  his  brother  Benjamin  awakened  so 
many  tender  associations,  he  was  obliged  again  to  retire,  to 
conceal  the  overpowering  emotions  of  his  heart.  He  returned 
and  inquired  kindly  of  their  father's  health ;  provided  for 
them  a  feast,  and  eventually,  to  their  no  small  astonishment, 
made  the  disclosure  to  them  that  he  was  really  Joseph ;  at 
the  same  time  assuring  them  of  favor,  bidding  them  think 
more  of  the  merciful  interposition  of  God  in  bringing  him 
to  his  present  position,  than  of  their  own  unnatural  conduct. 

What  a  triumph  was  Joseph's  !  What  a  glorious  superi- 
ority ! 

Such  is  the  exalted  nature  of  true  goodness, — not  satisfied 
with  merely  bestowing  forgiveness,  it  strives  to  close  the 
wounds  which  guilt  has  made. 

Joseph  having  discovered  himself  to  his  brethren,  is  as 
eager  to  hasten  their  departure,  as  he  was  before  artful  to 
detain  them ;  for  his  heart  yearned  to  meet  again  his  aged 
father.  He  dismisses  them,  provided  with  every  accommo- 
dation for  the  safe  and  comfortable  removal  of  his  honored 
parent,  and  their  tender  children,  for  whom  he  generously 
promises  to  provide  all  things  necessary  for  their  comfort. 

As  they  neared  the  land,  Joseph  made  ready  his  chariot, 
and  hastened  to  meet  them,  and  who  can  describe  that  meet- 
ing between  father  and  son  ?  Who  can  tell  how  much  of 
bliss  was  concentrated  in  those  few  brief  moments  ?  They 
silently  wept,  and  tearful  silence  best  befits  the  occasion. 

With  filial  tenderness  Joseph  watched  over  his  father,  and 
for  seventeen  years  the  days  of  the  patriarch  were  gladdened 
by  the  grateful  attentions  of  a  dutiful  son. 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time  he  saw  his  aged  parent 
close  his  eyes  in  death,  and  in  accordance  with  his  request, 
he  followed  his  remains  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  to  sleep  be- 
side his  kindred.  Having  deposited  his  sacred  pledge  in 
the  cave  of  the  field  of  INIacpelah,  Joseph  with  all  his  retinue 
returned  to  the  land  of  Egypt.  This  transpired  in  the  fifty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age.     The  history  of  the  remainder,  con- 


JOSEPH.  47 

taining  a  period  of  fifty-four  years  more,  shrinks  into  a  few 
short  sentences.  But  they  exhibit  a  beautiful  and  instruc- 
tive picture  of  a  generous  spirit,  of  great  and  growing  do- 
mestic happiness,  of  a  capacious  prophetic  soul,  and  of  a 
faithful,  obedient,  and  believing  heart. 

As  Joseph  became  conscious  that  his  days  were  rapidly 
'declining,  he  said  unto  his  brethren,  "I  die;"  and  as  his 
dying  father  held  him  engaged  by  a  solemn  oath  not  to  bury 
him  but  in  Canaan,  so  he  binds  his  posterity  by  a  similar 
obligation,  to  carry  his  remains,  when  opportunity  offered,  to 
the  sacred  spot  where  the  sleeping  dust  of  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  reposed. 

Accordingly,  the  dead  body  of  Joseph  becomes  no  incon- 
siderable object  in  the  history  of  Israel,  from  this  time  for- 
ward, to  their  final  establishment  in  Canaan. 

"With  much  pomp  it  was  embalmed  ;  with  much  care  pre- 
served in  their  deepest  distresses  and  afflictions  ;  in  all  their 
wanderings  it  accompanied  them,  and  never,  till  they  rested 
in  the  peaceable  possession  of  the  land  of  promise,  did  it 
rest  in  the  peaceful  tomb. 

Thus  lived,  and  died,  Joseph  the  son  of  Jacob. 

A  man  whom  all  nations,  and  every  description  of  man- 
kind, have  united  to  praise  and  admire  ;  whose  character 
and  fortunes  the  pen  of  inspiration  has  vouchsafed  to  delin- 
eate with  singular  accuracy,  and  with  uncommon  strength 
of  coloring.  Who,  in  every  stage  of  life,  in  youth,  in 
manhood,  and  even  to  old  age,  interests,  instructs  and  de- 
lights every  reader  of  taste,  virtue,  and  sensibility.  "Who 
in  adversity  preserved  inflexible  constancy ;  and  in  eleva- 
tion next  to  royalty,  adorned  his  high  station  by  unaifected 
simplicity,  incorruptible  integrity,  native,  unassuming  dig- 
nity, fervent  piety,  invariable  moderation,  and  uniform  mod- 
esty and  humility.  Who,  as  a  son,  a  brother,  a  servant,  a 
father,  a  master,  a  ruler,  is  equally  amiable  and  praiseworthy. 
Who,  to  the  sagacity  of  the  statesman,  added  the  penetration 
of  the  prophet,  the  firmness  of  the  believer,  and  the  purity 
of  the  saint. 

Who,  by  the  blessing  of  Providence,  was  saved  through 


48  JOSHUA. 

dangers  the  most  threatening,  to  pity,  to  forgive,  and  to 
preserve  those  who  meant  to  have  destroyed  him ;  and  who, 
in  a  word,  was  miraculously  raised  up  of  God  from  an  ob- 
scure nation,  to  be  an  instrument  of  much  temporal  good  to 
nations  ;  to  mature  and  execute  the  plans  of  eternal  wisdom, 
and  to  typify  to  a  dark  age.  Him  who  is  fairer  than  the 
children  of  men,  and  through  whom  all  the  blessings  of  na- 
ture, of  providence,  and  of  redemption  are  communicated 
to  mankind. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  ANCESTRY  OE  JOSMA ;  HIS  QUALIFICATIOXS  TO  BE  A  LEADER  OF  THE 

TEOI'LE ;  COMMANDING  THE  SUN  TO  STAND  STILL ;  SUCCESS  IN 

OVERCOMING  HIS  ENEMIES. 

OSHUA,  the  son  of  Nun,  of  the  tribe  of  Ephraim, 
was  first  called  Oshea,  or  Hoshea,  which  signifies 
saved,  a  saviour,  or  salvation ;  but  afterward 
Moses,  guided  no  doubt  by  a  prophetic  spirit, 
changed  his  name  into  Yehoshua,  or  Joshua,  which  signifies 
he  shall  save,  or  the  salvation  of  Jehovah  ;  referring  no 
doubt  to  his  being  God's  instrument  in  saving  the  people 
from  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  and  leading  them  from 
victory  to  victory,  over  the  different  Canaanitish  nations,  till 
he  put  them  in  possession  of  the  promised  land. 

Joshua  was  denominated  the  servant  of  Moses,  as  he  seems 
to  have  acted  sometimes  as  his  secretary,  sometimes  as  his 
aid-de-camp,  and  sometimes  as  the  general  of  the  army. 
He  was  early  appointed  to  be  the  successor  of  Moses,  and 
under  the  instruction  of  this  great  master  he  was  fully  quali- 
fied for  the  important  office. 

He  Avas  a  great  and  pious  man,  and  God  honored  him  in 
a  most  extraordinary  manner,  as  the  sequel  of  the  history 
amply  proves. 

From  preceding  history  it  appears  that  he  became  attached 


JOSHUA.  4  J 

to  Moses  shortly  after  the  exodus  from  Egypt ;  that  he  was 
held  by  him  in  the  highest  esteem;  had  the  command  of 
the  army  confided  to  him  in  the  war  with  the  Amale- 
kites ;  and  accompanied  his  master  to  the  Mount,  when  he 
went  up  to  receive  the  Law  from  God.  These  were  the 
highest  honors  he  could  possibly  receive  during  the  life-time 
of  Moses. 

After  the  death  of  Moses,  God's  Prime  Minister^  Joshua 
was  commissioned  to  bring  the  people  into  the  promised 
land;  and  with  the  promise  of  the  ever-abiding  presence 
of  the  Lord,  he  betook  himself  to  the  work. 

He  immediately  sent  spies  to  examine  into  the  state  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land,  and  bringing  a  favorable  report, 
they  pressed  forward ;  the  waters  of  the  Jordan  parting  to 
give  them  a  safe  passage  through. 

They  left  there  a  standing  memorial  of  the  event,  and 
went  on,  with  new  confidence  in  their  earthly  leader,  and  new 
devotion  to  their  heavenly  Captain. 

The  time  of  close  conflict  with  their  enemies  came.  Joshua 
saw  that  the  enemies  of  his  people  were  put  to  flight,  yet  he 
well  knew  that  all  which  escaped  would  rally  again,  and 
that  he  should  be  obliged  to  meet  them  once  more  in  the 
field  of  battle  if  permitted  now  to  escape ;  finding  that  the 
day  was  drawing  toward  a  close,  he  feared  that  he  should 
not  have  time  sufficient  to  complete  the  destruction  of  the 
confederate  armies ;  in  this  moment,  being  suddenly  inspired 
with  Divine  confidence,  he  requested  the  Lord  to  perform 
the  most  stupendous  miracle  that  had  ever  been  wrought, 
which  was  no  less  than  to  arrest  the  sun  in  his  course,  and 
prolong  the  day  till  the  destruction  of  his  enemies  had  been 
completed!  It  was  done.  Victory  was  gained ;  and  Joshua 
went  on,  strong  in  the  Lord,  conquering  and  to  conquer, 
till  the  nations  were  subdued  before  him,  and  the  fair  inheri- 
tance won ! 

The  land  duly  apportioned,  Joshua  gathers  together  the 
tribes ;  recapitulates  to  them  the  gracious  dealings  of  the 
Lord,  exhorts  them  to  be  faithful ;  and  then  the  sacred  his 
torian  gives  us  this  brief  record ;  "And  it  came  to  pass  after 


50  JOSHUA. 

these  tilings,  tliat  Joshua  the  son  of  Nun,  the  servant  of  the 
Lord^  died,  being  a  hundred  and  ten  years  old." 

His  work  was  done ;  his  soul  ripened  for  a  state  of  bless- 
edness, and  God  took  him  to  himself.     Enviable  distinctwn. 

"  Servant  of  the  Lordf^  who  would  aspire  to  greater  honor? 

It  does  not  appear  that  Joshua  was  ever  married,  or  that 
he  had  any  children.  That  he  was  high  in  the  estimation 
of  God,  we  learn  from  his  being  chosen  to  succeed  Moses 
in  the  government  of  the  people. 

He  was  the  person  alone,  of  all  the  host  of  Israel,  who 
was  deemed  every  way  qualified  to  go  out  before  the  con- 
gregation, and  go  in;  to  lead  them  out,  and  bring  them  in; 
and  be  the  shepherd  of  the  people,  because  the  spirit  of 
God  was  in  him. 

He  was  of  all  men  of  that  generation,  next  in  eminence 
to  the  great  legislator,  Moses. 

Like  his  great  master,  he  neither  provided  for  himself 
nor  his  relatives ;  though  he  had  it  constantly  in  power  so 
to  do.  He  was  the  head  and  leader  of  the  people ;  the  chief 
and  foremost  in  all  fatigues  and  dangers;  without  whose 
piety,  prudence,  Avisdom  and  military  skill,  the  whole  tribes 
of  Israel,  humanly  speaking,  must  have  been  ruined.  And 
yet  this  conquerer  of  the  nations  did  not  reserve  to  himself 
a  goodly  inheritance,  a  noble  city,  nor  any  part  of  the  spoils 
of  those  he  had  vanquished.  His  countrymen,  it  is  true, 
gave  him  an  inheritance  among  them.  This  we  might  sup- 
pose, was  in  consideration  of  his  eminent  services,  and  this, 
we  might  naturally  expect,- would  be  the  best  in  the  land! 

No !  They  gave  him  Timnath-serah,  in  the  barren  moun- 
tains of  Ephraim,  and  even  this  he  ashed. 

But  was  not  this  the  best  city  in  the  land  ?  No ;  it  was 
even  no  city ;  evidently  no  more  than  the  ruins  of  one  that 
had  stood  in  that  place ;  and  hence  it  is  said,  he  huilded  the 
city,  and  dwelt  therein ;  he,  with  some  persons  of  his  own 
tribe,  revived  the  stones  out  of  the  rubbish,  and  made  it 
habitable. 

Joshua  believed  there  was  a  God ;  he  loved  him,  acted  un- 
der his  influence,  and  endeavored  to  the  utmost  of  his  power 


JOSHUA. 


51 


to  promote  the  glory  of  his  Maker,  and  the  welfare  of  man 
and  he  expected  his  recompense  in  another  world. 

Like  him  of  whom  he  was  an  illustrious  type^  he  led  a 
painful  and  laborious  'life,  devoting  himself  entirely  to  the 
service  of  God  and  the  public  good. 

How  unlike  was  Joshua  to  those  men  who,  for  certain 
services,  get  elevated  to  the  highest  honors ;  but  not  content 
with  the  recompense  thus  awarded  them  by  their  country, 
use  their  new  influence  for  the  further  aggrandizement  of 
themselves  and  dependents,  at  the  expense,  and  often  to  the 
ruin  of  their  country  ! 

Joshua  retires  only  from  labor  when  there  is  no  more 
work  to  be  done,  and  no  more  dangers  to  be  encountered. 

He  was  the  first  in  the  field,  and  the  last  out  of  it ;  and 
never  attempted  to  take  rest  till  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  had 
got  their  possessions,  and  were  settled  in  their  inheritances ! 
Of  him  it  might  be  truly  said,  as  of  Cossar,  he  continued 
to  work,  for  he  "  considered  nothing  done,  while  anything 
remained  undone." 

Behold  this  man  retiring  from  office  and  from  life,  without 
any  kind  of  emolument !  the  greatest  man  of  all  the  tribes 
of  Israel ;  the  most  patriotic,  and  the  most  serviceable ; 
and  yet  the  worst  provided  for ! 

Statesmen!  naval  and  Tnilitary  commanders!  look  Joshua 
in  the  face,  read  his  history,  and  learn  from  it  the  glory 
of  tme  patriotism  ! 

That  man  alone  who  truly  fears  and  loves  God,  credits 
his  revelation,  and  is  made  a  partaker  of  his  spirit,  is  capa- 
ble of  performing  disinterested  services  to  his  country  and  to 
mankind. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

EARLY  CONSECRATION  TO  THE  LORD ;  REMARKABLE  CALL  TO  THE  PROPHETIC 

OFFICE;  CHOSEN  JUDGE;    ANOINTS  SAUL  AND  AFTERWARD  DAYID; 

HIS  DEATH  AND  SUPPOSED  AGE. 

^  AMUEL    was    one  of   tlie   most   eminent  of  the 
Jewish  prophets,  and  was  the  last,  and  indeed  the 
*^^  greatest  of  the  judges  of  Israel. 

We  have  but  little  more  than  the  outlines  of  his 
character,  yet  wherever  his  conduct  is  manifested  it  exhibits  a 
life  regulated  hj  the  purest  principles  of  virtue  and  integrity. 

The  signification  of  his  name,  {lent  of  the  Lord,)  shows  his 
early  and  peculiar  designation  for  a  sacred  work,  and  the 
propriety  of  maternal  consecration  in  bringing  him  at  the 
earliest  period  to  the  holy  service  of  the  temple. 

It  is  an  interesting  and  touching  picture  to  see  that  glad 
mother  leading  her  son  to  the  venerable  priest,  Eli,  and 
leaving  him  as  a  choice  offering  to  the  Lord. 

She  returned  home ;  still,  however,  to  maintain  a  watchful 
solicitude  for  her  son,  and  as  often  as  the  yearly  sacrifice 
came  round,  she  repaired  to  the  temple  with  some  token  of 
love  for  her  child.  The  age  of  Samuel  at  the  time  he  was 
brought  to  the  temple  is  not  certainly  known.  Some  think 
it  to  be  seven,  others  twelve,  though  the  former  is  more  gene- 
rally approved. 

His  immediate  duty  there  seems  to  have  been  in  rendering 
such  little  services  as  his  age  allowed  about  the  person  of 
the  High  Priest ;  and  eventually  in  some  of  the  lighter  ser- 
vices of  the  tabernacle. 

For  a  time  the  only  thing  said  of  him,  is  comprehended 
in  the  sentence,  that  "  he  grew  on,  and  was  in  favor  both 
with  the  Lord,  and  also  with  men."  High  distinction  1  glo- 
rious recommendation  !  who  would  seek  for  more  1 


SAM  UEL. 


5S 


He  was  early  introduced  to  tlie  prophetic  office,  and  in  a 
very  remarkable  manner. 

It  seems  the  attachment  of  the  aged  priest  had  kept  Samuel 
near  him  at  night  as  well  as  during  the  day. 

One  night  his  youthful  slumbers  were  broken  by  a  voice 
which  pronounced  his  name.  With  prompt  attention  the 
lad  started  from  his  couch,  and  hastened  to  the  bedside  of 
his  aged  lord,  who,  he  supposed,  had  called  him. 

This  he  repeated  three  times,  for  so  often  was  he  called, 
and  each  time  supposed  that  Eli  had  called  him. 

The  strangeness  of  the  circumstance  led  the  high  priest 
to  think  there  was  something  more  than  human  in  it; 
and  directed  him  to  go  and .  lie  down  once  more,  and 
if  again  called,  to  say,  "  Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant 
heareth." 

Samuel  did  as  he  was  directed,  and  the  Divine  voice  then 
declared  the  terrible  judgments  which  should  speedily  fall 
upon  Eli  and  his  house;  upon  his  sons  because  they 
had  "made  themselves  vile,"  and  upon  him  because  he 
"  restrained  them  not." 

The  reluctance  of  Samuel  to  afflict  the  spirit  of  his  vene- 
rable lord  kept  him  silent,  till  by  a  solemn  adjuration  he  was 
constrained  to  let  him  know  all  that  had  passed. 

He  withheld  nothing  of  Jehovah's  denunciations,  but  told 
the  whole  of  the  Divine  communication,  as  it  had  been 
revealed  to  him. 

After  the  account  of  this  remarkable  judgment  upon  Eli 
and  his  house,  the  sacred  historian  carries  forward  the  his- 
tory of  Samuel  to  another  point. '  The  death  of  the  high 
priest  made  the  people  desirous  of  a  judge,  and  there  was 
no  one  in  Israel  who  stood  before  the  people  with  any 
claims  to  attention  comparable  to  those  of  Samuel. 

His  constant  presence  at  the  tabernacle,  had  made  the  Is 
raelites  familiar  with  his  person  and  history  from  childhood , 
and  convinced  that  their  best  course  to  prosperity  and  health 
would  be  secured  by  placing  themselves  under  the  guidance 
of  a  man  so  wise  and  holy  as  Samuel,  he  was  formally 
recognized  by  them  as  their  judge^  although  most  of  the 


54  SAMUEL. 

essential  functions  of  that  office  had  already  come  insensibly 
into  his  hands,  and  been  exercised  by  him. 

His  first  act  was  to  extirpate  idolatry ;  and  he  hesitated 
not  to  promise  the  jjeople  that  at  this  cost  God  would  not 
fail  to  deliver  them  from  the  3^oke  of  the  Philistines. 

He  then  called  an  assembly  of  the  people  at  Mizpeh,  on 
the  borders  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  to  engage  with  him  in 
a  solemn  act  of  praj'^er  and  humiliation  before  the  Lord,  as 
a  su.itable  commencement  of  a  new  and  more  prosperous 
career.  Wise  determination !  How  unlike  the  counsels 
of  the  world. 

The  next  act,  as  we  may  well  suppose,  is  to  raise  a  monu- 
ment commemorative  of  the  Lord's  goodness  to  them. 

As  Samuel  advanced  in  years  he  appointed  his  sons 
judges;  but  failing  to  walk. in  the  right  way,  the  people 
were  dissatisfied,  and  became  clamorous  for  a  king. 

Notwithstanding  the  remonstrance  of  their  judge,  and  his 
advice  to  the  contrary,  they  still  persisted,  until  Samuel  sor- 
rowfully dismissed  them  to  their  homes,  (they  having  gath- 
ered together  at  Eamah,)  that  he  might  have  time  to  take  the 
necessary  measures  for  effecting  this  great  change.  As 
usual,  he  had  recourse  to  Divine  aid,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  annointed  them  a  king  according  to 
their  desire.      '    * 

At  a  subsequent  assemblage  of  the  people,  he  .testified 
of  his  own  integrity  to  them ;  spoke  of  the  dealings  of  God 
with  them,  and  exhorted  them  to  future  obedience. 

Saul  proving  unfaithful  to  his  trust,  Samuel  deserted  him, 
and  never  more  acknowledged  him  king. 

He  "Mourned  for  him,"  and  continued  to  perform  his 
prophetic  functions  at  Ramah  and  at  Naioth,  superintending 
the  school  of  the  prophets  in  that  place. 

He  was  afterward  sent  to  annoint  the  son  of  Jesse  ling ; 
and  then  with  the  characteristic  brevity  of  the  sacred  wri 
ters,  it  is  said  that  "  Samuel  died." 

The  estimation  in  which  he  was  held,  is  shown  by  the 
simple  sentence, — "the  Israelites  were  gathered  together  and 
lamented  him." 


SAMUEL.  55 

He  is  supposed  to  have  lived  about  one  hundred  years. 
Supposing  this  to  be  so,  he  filled  the  olEfice  of  judge  sixty 
years,  as  he  was  about  forty  years  of  age  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  reign. 

A  prime  minister,  deeply  devoted  to  God,  and  faithful  to 
his  king,  and  to  his  country,  is  so  rare  a  character  in  the 
world,  that  when  he  does  occur,  he  should  be  held  up  to 
public  admiration.  There  scarcely  seems  a  parallel  for 
Samuel. 

If  there  was  ever  a  heaven-born  minister,  it  was  he.  In 
his  public  and  private  conduct  there  was  no  bleraish.  He 
gave  a  bright  example  of  zeal,  diligence,  infle:|ible  integrity, 
and  uncorruptedness. 

He  reproved  both  the  people  and  their  king  for  transgres- 
sions, with  a  boldness  which  nothing  but  a  sense  of  the 
Divine  authority  could  inspire ;  and  yet  he  tempered  it  with 
a  sweetness  which  showed  the  interest  he  felt  in  their  wel- 
fare, and  the  deep  and  distressing  concern  he  felt  for  their 
backslidings  and  infidelities. 

He  reformed  many  abuses  in  the  Jewish  state,  and  raised 
it  to  a  pitch  of  political  consequence  to  which  it  had  long 
been  a  stranger.  He  was  verj^  zealous  for  the  honor  of  God, 
and  supported  the  rights  of  pure  religion,  of  the  king,  and 
of  the  people,  against  all  encroachments. 

He  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  who  established 
academies^  or  scliooJs  for  'prophets ;  at  least,  we  do  not  hear 
of  them  before  his  time ;  and  it  is  granted  that  they  con- 
tinued till  the  Bab3donish  captivity. 

This  was  a  wise  institution,  and  no  doubt  contributed  much 
to  the  maintenance  of  pure  religion,  and  the  prevention  of 
idolatry  among  the  people. 

He  sought  not  to  make  his  office  subservient  to  his  own 
pecuniary  advantage.  He  was  among  the  Hebrews  v>^hat 
Aristides  is  said  to  have  been  among  the  Greeks, — so  poor 
at  his  death,  though  a  minister  of  state,  that  he  did  not  leave 
property  enough  to  bury  him. 

Justice  was  by  him  duly  and  impartially  administered,  and 
oppression  and  wrong  had  no  existence.' 


56  DAVID. 

Let  tliose  in  like  position,  wlio  have  sought  their  own 
glory,  fall  down  at  the  feet  of  this  heaven-horn  man,  and  learn 
from  this  immaculate  judge  of  Israel,  what  an  incorruptible 
minister  of  state  means. 

How  seldom  in  the  annals  of  the  world,  from  the  assembled 
heads  of  the  great  body  politic,  can  the  departing  ^?-me  min- 
ister hear,  "  Thou  hast  not  defrauded  us ;  thou  hast  not  op- 
pressed lis;  neither  hast  thou  taken  aught  of  any  man's 
hand!" 

This  voice  can  be  heard  from  Gilgal ;  but  of  what  other 
minister  can  this  be  spoken  but  of  Samuel  the  jSeer,  who  was 
the  gift  of  God's  mercy  to  the  people  of  Israel ;  whose  mem- 
ory was  too  precious  to  be  intrusted  to  public  monuments, 
but  stands,  and  alas  !  almost  unique  in  the  Book  of  God. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

FIRST  ArPEARAXCE  IX  PUBLIC  LIFE;    SENT  TO  IIlS  BROTHERS:    DESTROYS 

GOLIATH;    SIN  AND  SORROW;    NUMBERS  THE  PEOPLE,  AND  THEREBY 

INCURS  GOD'S  DISPLEASURE;    GENIUS  AS  A  POET; 

CHARACTER  AS  A  MAN  OF  GOD. 

RIOR  to  the  appearance  of  David  on  the  occasion 
of  his  being  anointed  by  Samuel,  at  Behlehem, 
nothing  is  distinctly  stated  of  his  history  and 
character. 

There  are,  however,  a  few  retrospective  intimations  regard- 
ing his  youthful  life,  and  some  materials  left  in  his  divine 
songs,  from  which  some  particulars  may  be  gleaned. 

Singled  out  from  all  the  sons  of  Jesse  as  one  particularly 
calculated  to  be  the  ruler  of  the  people,  by  the  disposition  of 
appropriate  graces  from  God's  own  hand,  he  at  once  comes 
into  public  notice,  and  his  history  afterward  recorded  more 
at  length,  than  any  other  one  in  the  Old  Testament. 

The  rare  combination  in  him  of  all  that  was  gentle,  tender, 


DAVID.  57 

and  mild, — with  the  most  exalted  enthusiasm,  the  most  noble 
aspirations,  the  most  generous  sentiments,  the  most  manly 
deportment,  the  most  heroic  daring,  and  the  most  invincible 
prowess, — joined  to  his  invariable  consideration  for  others, 
his  open  heartedness,  his  humbleness,  and  tne  entire  absence 
of  all  jDretension  in  him,  excited  the  admiration  of  the  people. 
He  was  known  to  be  a  man  of  God,  and  to  be  much  in  com- 
munion with  him — and  this  diffused  an  ineffable  grace  over 
his  demeanor  and  conversation,  to  which  beyond  question, 
much  of  the  extraordinary  influence  he  possessed  over  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  others  must  be  ascribed. 

To  these  personal  qualities,  David  added  all  the  accom- 
plishments of  his  age  and  country.  His  age  was  not  one  of 
scholarship  or  books.  Yet  such  scholarship  as  was  valued 
among  his  countrymen,  he  possessed — and  the  books  that 
were  found  among  them,  he  well  knew.  Above  all,  he  had 
deeply  studied  such  parts  of  the  Sacred  Scripture  as  then 
existed.  His  writings  continually  evince  his  close  acquaint- 
ance with  it — his  admiration  of  it — his  intense  appreciation 
of  its  value — his  love  for  it.  This  shows  that  he  had  attained 
the  same  state  of  grace,  had  been  subject  to  the  same  teach- 
ings of  the  Divine  Spirit,  by  which  all  true,  that  is,  all  vital, 
spiritual  knowledge  must  be  imparted — as  we  are  bound  to 
realize  under  a  more  perfect  .system,  and  with  more  ample 
materials,  and  broader  revelations. 

There  has  been  but  one  Spirit  from  the  beginning ;  and 
David  was  taught  of  him. 

Thus  early  in  life  was  he  distinguished  as  the  "man  after 
God's  own  liearV 

The  first  record  we  have  of  him,,  after  his  designation  for 
the  kingly  ofiice,  is  his  appearance  before  the  king,  to  soothe 
his  unhappy  mind  by  the  irresistible  charms  of  music. 

He  succeeds,  and  returns  again  to  his  father's  house,  and 
his  wonted  employment  as  a  shepherd;  but  again  we  see 
him  traversing  the  road  from  Bethlehem,  bent  on  a  kindly 
errand  to  his  brothers,  who  were  in  the  war  against  the  Phi- 
listines. It  was  there  he  met  the  proud  Goliath,  and  his 
taunting  words  to  the  hosts  of  Israel. 


58  DAVID. 

It  was  witli  burning  indignation  lie  beheld  the  gigantic  pagan 
stand  forth,  and  "defy  the  armies  of  the  living  God ;"  and  strong 
in  the  strength  of  the  Mighty  One,  he  dared  to  meet  the  foe. 

With  his  shepherd'' s  slmg,  and  "^it'e  smooth  stones,^''  he 
marched  on  with  undaunted  courage,  fully  conscious  it  was 
the  Lord's  cause,  and  must  eventually  triumph. 

With  a  single  stone  he  brings  the  vast  form  of  the  boast- 
ing giant  to  the  ground,  and  displaying  the  head  of  their 
leader  to  the  discomfited  Philistines,  they  fled. 

David  at  once  becomes  a  public  man.  There  is  no  more 
obscurity — no  more  sweet  solitude  of  private  life — no  more 
feeding  of  sheep,  for  him.  If  we  look  to  the  deep  depression 
into  which  the  Israelites  had  fallen,  so  that  the  most  daring 
spirits,  under  the  stimulus  of  the  highest  rewards,  had  not 
ventured  upon  the  enterprise  which  the  son  of  Jesse  had  so 
nobly  and  piously  achieved,  we  may  form  some  notion  of 
the  admiration  and  gratitude  with  which  this  exploit  was 
regarded,  and  the  enthusiasm  which  it  excited. 

It  was  the  one  great  act  by  which  some  men  are  enabled, 
in  one  little  hour, — or  even  in  the  time  of  a  passing  thought, 
— to  illus.trate  and  adorn  their  whole  career,  presenting  to  the 
public  view  one  illustrious  deed,  the  memory  of  which 
becomes  in  every  mind  inseparably  connected  with  their 
name,  and  goes  down  with  it  to  future  ages. 

It  was  impossible  for  any  Israelite  thenceforward  in  David's 
lifetime  to  behold  him,  or  in  the  ages  to  come  to  think  of  him, 
without  remembering  this  great  exploit,  with  its  antecedents 
and  its  consequences. 

From  this  time  an  intimate  friendship  sprung  up  between 
David  and  Jonathan,  which  remained  true  and  firm  through 
all  the  jealousy  of  Saul,  and  attempts  to  take  life,  which 
immediately  followed. 

From  the  moment  it  was  sounded  in  the  streets,  "  Saul 
hath  slain  his  thousands,  and  David  his  ten  thousands,"  the 
heart  of  the  king  had  feared  the  consequences  of  his  rivals 
celebrity,  and  he  determined  upon  his  death.  He  gave  him 
his  daughter  to  wife, — but  why?  That  he  might  better 
accomplish  his  malicious  purposes! 


DAVID.  59 

In  a  variety  of  ways  lie  endeavored  to  secure  his  object, 
but  David  was  in  tlie  hands  of  God,  whose  purposes  con- 
cerning him  were  not  yet  fulfilled. 

When  at  length  Saul  was  delivered  into  his  hands,  he  man^ 
ifests  an  admirable  spirit  in  withholding  violence,  because  of 
the  sacred  seal  upon  him,  which  distinguished  him  as  the 
^'■Lord's  AnointecV 

After  the  death  of  Saul  by  his  own  hand,  David,  by  Divine 
direction,  proceeded  to  Hebron,  where  he  was  again  anointed, 
and  made  king  over  Judah. 

The  commencement  of  his  reign  was  prosperous ;  he  sub- 
dued the  Phihstines,  brought  the  ark  back  to  Jerusalem, 
amid  general  rejoicing,  concluding  with  a  prayer,  in  which 
he  himself  most  devoutly  acknowledged  God's  mercy  and 
goodness. 

Thus  far  David  appears  great,  glorious,  and  pious ;  but  we 
have  to  contemplate  him  descending  from  his  high  posi- 
tion, and  becoming  involved  in  crimes  of  the  deepest  dye. 
The  unlawful  intercourse  with  Bathsheba,  coupled  with  the 
murder  of  Uriah,  the  innocent  husband,  under  aggravated 
circumstancesj  brings  a  stain  upon  his  character  never  to  be 
forgotten. 

This  is  a  turning  point  in  the  history  of  David.  It  wrought 
a  change  even  in  the  man  himself.  Broken  in  spirit  by  the 
consciousness  of  how  deeply  he  had  sinned  against  God  and 
against  man ;  humbled  in  the  eyes  of  his  subjects,  and  his 
influence  with  them  weakened  by  the  knowledge  of  his 
crimes ;  and  even  his  authority  in  his  own  household,  and 
his  claim  to  the  reverence  of  his  sons,  relaxed  by  his  loss  of 
character — David  appears  henceforth  as  a  much  altered  man. 
He  is  as  one  who  goes  down  to  the  grave  mourning.  He 
is  still  pious,  but  his  piety  takes  an  altered  aspect.  It  is  no 
longer  buoyant,  exulting,  triumphant,  glad ;  it  is  repressed, 
humble,  patient,  contrite,  suffering. 

His  trust  in  the  Lord  is  not  less  than  it  had  been,  and  that 
trust  sustains  him,  and  still  gives  dignity  to  his  character  and 
sentiments.     But  even  that  trust  is  different. 

He  sinned  deeply ;   but  his  penitence  was  as  deep  and 


60  DAVID. 

extraordinary  as  Lis  crime ;  and  nothing  couJd  surpass  both, 
hut  that  eternal  mercy  that  took  away  the  guilt,  assuaged  the 
sorrow,  and  restored  this  most  humble  transgressor  to  char- 
acter, holiness,  happiness  and  heaven. 

This  event  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  in  the  twenty- 
third  year  of  his  reign,  and  fifty-third  of  his  age. 

Once  again  we  find  him  giving  way  to  a  temptation  of 
Satan.  Slackening  in  his  piety  and  confidence  toward  God, 
and  meditating  some  extensions  of  his  dominions  without 
the  Divine  counsel  or  command,  he  was  naturally  curious  to 
know  whether  the  number  of  fighting  men  in  his  empire  Avas 
sufiicient  for  the  work  which  he  projected. 

Accordingly  he  sent  forth  to  number  the  effective  subjects 
of  his  realm.  His  immediate  call  to  a  choice  between  fearful 
judgments  led  him  to  reflection ;  which  was  followed  by  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  sin,  the  offering  of  sacrifice  to  God, 
which  was  accepted,  and  the  plague  stayed. 

These  are  indeed  spots  upon  the  otherwise  blameless  life 
of  David.  He  was  subject  to  human  frailty,  and  therefore 
not  perfect ;  but  where  he  sinned  deeply,  his  repentance  was 
corresponding. 

The  time  drew  near  when  he  must  close  his  eyes  upon 
earth,  and  terminate  his  mortal  existence.  Fully  conscious 
of  it,  he  gives  his  dying  charge  to  Solomon,  who  was  to  be 
his  successor ;  and  it  is  said  of  him,  he  "  slept  with  his 
fathers,  and  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David." 

He  died  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age,  but  by  reason 
of  his  trials  and  sorrow,  is  said  to  have  had  the  appearance 
of  unusual  infirmity. 

Notwithstanding  occasional  blemishes,  David  was  a  true 
believer^  a  zealous  adorer  of  God,  teacher  of  his  law  and  luor- 
skij:),  and  inspirer  of  his  praise. 

A  life  so  long,  so  holy,  so  useful,  and,  except  in  these 
instances,  so  truly  exemplary,  entitles  him  to  the  character 
)f  a  holy  man  of  God  ;  and  allowing  but  a  little  for  the  dis- 
pensation under  which  he  lived,  one  of  the  holiest,  if  not  the 
holiest,  that  ever  wore  a  crown,  or  wielded  a  sceptre. 

It  was  utterly  impossible  that  any  man  could  have  written 


EuJravedhy.'Whi-D.Smitli . 


IQMrjm  ^  :SATifiES]HlBAo 

r'Kiu^s  niap?"Verlb  16 


DAVID. 


61 


Rucli  Psalms  as  David  has,  whose  soul  was  not  deeply  imbued 
witli  the  spirit  of  holiness. 

Love  for  the  holy  law  of  God^  is  a  sign  of  grace ;  and  he 
possessed  this  love  in  the  highest  degree. 

There  was  a  rare  union  of  qualities  in  his  character.  He 
was  a  consummate  and  unequaled  hero^  a  skillful  and  fortu- 
nate captain,  a  steady  patriot,  a  wise  ruler,  a  faithful,  generous, 
and  magnanimous  friend;  and  what  is  yet  rarer,  a  no  less 
generous  and  magnanimous  enemy. 

But  the  highest  merit  of  David,  and  that  which  seems  to 
have  been  almost  exclusively  his  own,  was  his  poetic  genius. 

As  a  Divine  poet,  even  God  himself  had  created  none 
greater,  either  hefore  or  since.  In  this  science  and  gift  he  is 
therefore  the  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  Almighty. 

Others  have  given  occasional  specimens  of  profound  poet- 
ical genius,  but  there  is  no  whole  like  that  of  David. 

He  has  left  us  elegies,  odes,  triumphal  songs,  descriptive 
pieces,  and  sacred  lyrics,  in  which  every  chord  of  the  human 
heart — every  emotion  of  the  soul — every  aspiration  of  the 
spirit,  is  touched  with  a  master  hand. 

So  deeply  does  he  sound  the  depths  of  man's  nature,  so 
loftily  does  he  soar  to  the  gates  of  light — that  no  poet  has 
ever  lived  whose  ideas  have  become  so  much  the  common 
property  of  nations, — none  in.  whose  beautiful  words  the 
hopes,  the  fears,  the  joys,  the  griefs  of  the  spiritual  man  have 
found  such  adequate  expression. 

Men  of  all  nations  find  in  these  compositions  a  language 
at  once  suitable  to  their  feelings,  and  expressive  of  their 
highest  joys  and  deepest  sorrows,  as  well  as  of  all  the  end- 
lessly varied  wishes  and  desires  of  their  hearts. 

The  sublimity,  the  depth,  the  excursive  fancy,  the  discursive 
power,  the  vast  compass  of  thought,  the  knowledge  of  heaven 
and  earth,  of  Ood  and  nature,  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  the  end- 
lessly varied  temptations  of  Satan,  the  knowledge  of  the 
human  heart,  the  travail  of  the  soul,  the  immense  grasp  of 
thought  embodying  and  arranging,  and  afterward  clothing 
in  suitable  language,  the  vast  assemblage  of  ideas  furnished 
by  the  natural  and  spiritual  world,  are  all  unrivaled.     It  is 


62 


ELIJAH. 


not  the  fiction  of  inventive  genius ;  but  the  production  of 
truth,  hidden  before  in  the  bosom  of  God  and  nature,  and 
exhibited  in  the  most  pleasing  colors,  with  the  most  impress- 
ive pathos,  and  irresistible  harmonic  diction  ;  these  qualities, 
— these  supra-mundane  excellencies,  are  found  in  no  other 
poet  that  ever  graced  the  annals  of  the  world  ;  they  exist  in 
their  perfection  only  in  David,  king  of  Israel.  What  is 
peculiarly  remarkable,  he  has  succeeded  to  the  very  highest 
degree  in  every  species  of  poetic  composition  that  has  for  its 
ohject  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  welfare  of  man ;  and  there 
is  not  one  poet  who  has  succeeded  him,  that  has  not  failed 
when  he  attempted  to  sing  of  God,  the  punishment  and 
rewards  of  the  future  world,  and*  the  unsearchable  riches  of 
Christ. 

His  heart  and  his  treasure  were  evidently  in  heaven,  and 
thither,  we  trust,  he  has  long  since  ascended ;  there  to  join 
in  a  "  nobler^  sweeter  strain  "  than  earth  could  afford,' — strains 
to  which  the  most  exquisite  melodies  his  harp  ever  produced, 
bear  not  even  a  faint  comparison. 

"Precious  in  the  sight  of. the  Lord  is  the  death  of  his 
saints." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BIRTH-PLACE ;  HUMBLE  ORIGIN ;   SUDDEN  APPEARANCE  ON  THE  STAGE  OF 

ACTIVE  LIFE ;  PROVIDENTIALLY  SUSTAINED  AT  CHERITH ;  RESTORES 

THE  DEAD;    CALLS  ELISHA  TO    THE    PROPHETIC    OFFICE; 

ASCENSION  TO  HEAVEN. 

HE  history  of  this  great  man  is  introduced  very 
abruptly.  He  appears  at  once  upon  the  stage, 
the  whole  man,  living  and  moving,  in  spirit  and 
conduct. 

His  origin  is  enveloped  in  obscurity.      He 
was  born  among  the  mountains  of  Gilead,  on  the  other  side 


ELIJAH.  63 

of  Jordan.  His  birth-place,  Tislibe,  may  be  considered  as 
only  a  mean  and  obscure  village  in  the  mountains ;  and  the 
prophet  in  his  childhood  could  not  have  known  much  of 
schools,  or  seats  of  learning,  or  the  great  world.  He  owed 
not  his  greatness  to  high  birth  or  station,  or  a  native  place 
of  renown,  but  rather  to  the  distinguishing  grace  of  Him 
who  gave  him  his  commission. 

The  first  act  of  Elijah  is  to  give  the  fearful  announcement 
to  the  idolatrous  people  about  him,  that  rain  and  even  dew 
should  be  withheld  from  the  earth  for  years.  In  zeal  for 
the  honor  of  God,  he  had  prayed  that  it  might  not  rain,  and 
being  assured  of  an  answer,  he  declared  the  judgment,  and 
it  immediately  followed.  Was  the  prophet  to  have  no  share 
in  the  common  calamity  ?  The  Lord  interposed  to  comfort 
and  rescue  him,  in  a  way  which  should  glorify  his  name,  and 
exercise  the  faith  of  Elijah.  He  bade  him  depart  to  the 
brook  Cherith,  where  by  an  especial  Providence  his  wants 
should  be  supplied.  For  twelve  months  he  staid  in  the 
dreary  wild,  near  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  happy,  as  we 
may  suppose,  in  obeying  the  Divine  intimation. 

At  length  the  flow  of  the  brook  began  to  diminish,  and 
when  its  waters  were  well  nigh  spent,  the  Lord  summoned 
him  from  his  quiet  retreat  to  a  distant  city,  where  he  had 
again  made  provision  for  him,  at  the  house  of  a  poor  widow. 

It  is  a  noble  testimony  that  is  here  borne  of  him: — "7ie 
arose  and  went" 

Directed  by  the  spirit  he  came  to  the  appointed  place, — ■ 
the  widow's  home, — where  both  were  long  sustained  by  the 
miraculous  increase  of  the  scanty  store. 

Delightful,  undoubtedly,  was  the  situation  of  Elijah  and 
the  devout  widow  at  Zarephath'.  But,  unexpectedly  a  heavy 
cloud  darkens  the  peaceful  cottage.  Death  comes  and  claims 
the  only  child  of  the  widow.  In  her  bereavement  she  appeals 
to  the  prophet,  who  retires  to  his  room  and  earnestly  im- 
plores that  life  may  again  be  imparted  to  the  inanimate  form. 

It  was  granted,  and  the  child  restored  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  give  unmistakable  proof  of  the  power  of  God,  and 
authority  of  his  messenger. 


64  ELIJAH. 

Having  accomplished  tlie  Divine  purpose  at  Zarepliath,  he 
receives  a  third  command  to  show  himself  unto  Ahab, 
coupled  with  a  cheering  promise  of  rain. 

When  he  had  faithfully  delivered  the  message  entrusted 
to  him,  he  makes  preparations  for  a  scene  which  has  not  its 
like  in  sacred  history. 

The  "priests  of  Baal"  and  "prophets  of  the  grove"  were 
summoned  to  Mt.  Carmel,  where  by  a  public  exhibition  of 
power,  it  was  to  be  decided  who  was  worthy  of  their  homage, 
the  Infinite  God^  or  the  idol  Baal.  From  morning  till  evening 
the  cry  of  the  idolators  pierced  the  leaden  ears  of  their  god, 
but  it  was  unavailing. 

Then  Elijah  stood  forth  in  simplicity  and  uprightness,  with 
tranquil  countenance  and  firm  deportment,  and  called  upon 
the  God  of  heaven.     Mysterious  moment ! 

The  whole  revelation  of  God  is  at  stake.  If  no  answer 
follows,  the  whole  fabric  falls  in,  and  the  ground  of  hope 
is  gone.  But  the  prayer  is  uttered ;  the  fire  descends,  and 
the  people  fall  upon  their  faces  with  the  involuntary  excla- 
mation, "Jehovah,  He  is  the  God!" 

Another  prayer  brought  abundance  of  rain  upon  the 
thirsty  earth,  and  then  the  prophet  is  called  away  from 
public  activity,  to  wander  once  more  in  the  solitudes  of  the 
wilderness.  The  haughty  Jezebel  threatens  his  life,  and  he 
flees  from  her.  Upon  his  way  he  lies  under  the  shadow  of  a 
juniper  tree,  and  there  his  soul  longs  for  rest,  and  he  prays 
that  he  may  die.     But  his  hour  is  not  yet  come. 

An  angel  comes  to  him,  and  refreshed  and  comforted,  he 
goes  on  his  way.  Proceeding  to  Mt.  Horeb,  he  took  up  his 
abode  in  a  cave,  where  in  various  striking  ways,  he  had 
bright  manifestations  of  the  power  and  glory  of  the  Al- 
mighty. With  a  three-fold  commission  he  leaves  this  place, 
in  the  execution  of  which  he  is  to  anoint  Hazael,  for  the 
Syrian  throne,  and  secure  the  companionship  of  Elisha  in 
his  work. 

Jealous  for  the  honor  of  God,  he  again  improves  the 
occasion,  to  show  an  idolatrous  king  the  folly  of  his  waj^s. 

He  intercepts  the  messengers  of  Ahaziah,  and  in  attesta- 


ELIJAH.  65 

tion  of  the  Divine  authority  of  his  mission,  causes  their 
destruction.  In  obedience  to  God's  command  he  goes  him- 
self to  the  enemy's  camp,  and  repeats  to  the  enraged  monarch, 
the  judgments  of  heaven.  The  promise  of  his  God,  lifts  him 
up  as  on  eagles'  wings,  above  every  fear,  in  his  trying  duty.   • 

The  prophet's  work  is  now  well  nigh  finished,  his  pilgrim- 
age completed.     He  knows  it  by  a  Divine  revelation. 

The  horses  of  fire  and  the  flaming  chariot  stand  already 
prejiared  behind  the  clouds  to  fetch  him  away ;  nor  has  the 
Lord  concealed  from  him  the  distinguished  manner  in  which 
he  is  to  be  taken  home.  He  goes  then  from  Gilgal  to  Bethel 
to  bid  a  last  farewell  to  his  disciples,  as  to  his  dear  children. 
He  hoped  to  have  made  the  journey  alone,  but  scarcely  had 
he  taken  his  staff,  when  Elisha,  his  faithful  friend  stands 
ready  to  accompany  him. 

Thrice., — at  Gilgal,  at  Bethel,  and  at  Jericho — did  Elijah 
with  increasing  importunity,  entreat  his  companion  to  leave 
him ;  but  as  often  did  he  receive  the  concise  and  decided 
reply, — "as  the  Lord  liveth,  and  as  thy  soul  liveth,  T  will 
not  leave  thee/' 

Fifty  men  of  the  sons  of  the  prophets  came  to  meet  the 
revered  man  on  his  way,  fully  conscious  it  was  the  last  time 
a  meeting  would  be  allowed  on  earth. 

How  gratifying  it  must  have  been  to  him,  to  hear,  from 
their  voices,  an  echo  to  his  own  ardent  prayers,  which,  when 
his  faith  was  weak,  he  had  supposed  to  have  no  counterpart. 

Having  arrived  at  the  brink  of  Jordan,  Elijah  does  not 
tarry  there,  as  if  he  doubted  how  he  was  to  pass  the  river. 
Folding  his  mantle  together  to  smite  the  waters,  the  stream 
divided,  and  they  passed  safely  over. 

This  formed  the  last  in  the  chain  of  wonders  which  ran 
through  his  whole  prophetic  course  ;  and  it  serves  to  show  that 
this  man  with  all  his  trials  and  fatigues,  held  fast,  and  main- 
tained the  beginning  of  his  confidence  steadfast  unto  the  end. 

The  time  hastened;  he  bequeathed  to  his  faithful  com- 
panion a  priceless  legacy,  and  this  done,  a  fiery  chariot  came 
down  and  bore  him  up  to  heaven. 

Blessed  servant  of  God,  thy  rest  is  attained. 

\5 


CHAPTER  X. 

HIS  PECFLIAE,  inSSION;  FIRST  MIRACLE,  PURIFYING  THE  WATERS;  CON 

DUCT  WITH  THE  THREE  KINGS;    RESTORES  THE  SHUN  AMITE'S 

CHILD  FROM  THE  DEAD;    HEALS  NAAMAN,  THE 

SYRIAN;  HIS  FAITHFULNESS  UNTO  DEATH. 

IKE  tlie  quiet,  gentle  moon,  beaming  fortli  con- 
solation and  peace,  Elisha,  son  of  Sbaphat,  -of 
Abelmeliolah,  rose  upon  the  horizon  of  his 
people,  after  the  majestic  setting  of  that  bright 
and  burning  meteor,  which  in  Elijah's  person  had 
shone  over  Israel. 

Many  have  thought  they  beheld  in  him  but  a  weak  copy 
of  his  far  greater  predecessor,  and  feel  inclined  to  maintain 
that  his  life  bears  that  relation  to  the  Tishbite's,  which  a  dying 
echo  bears  to  the  full  original  sound,  or  which  a  studied  and 
artificial  variation  bears  to  the  simple  theme ;  simple — yet  in 
its  simplicity  infinitely  more  sublime,  grand  and  effective. 

Yet  this  view  of  the  subject  reveals  any  thing  but  a  clear 
spirit  of  perception. 

A  deeper  glance  leads  to  a  very  different  conclusion. 

If  Elijah  was  an  original  phenomenon,  Elisha  was  not 
less  so. 

There  was  an  essential  difference  between  Elisha's  mission 
and  that  of  his  majestic  predecessor,  and  with  this  his  pecu- 
liar destination,  the  man's  whole  intellectual  organization,  as 
well  as  the  manner  in  which  he  appeared,  and  acted  upon  the 
scene,  stands  in  the  fairest  harmony. 

He  was  ordained  to  appear  in  Israel  as  an  evangelist,  as 
one  of  those  messengers  whose  feet  "  are  beautiful  on  the 
mountain."  As  the  herald  of  Divine  condescension,  he  was 
to  lead  the  people  with  persuasion  into  the  paternal  arms  of 
the  Lord,  to  bind  up  those  hearts  which  his  stern  precursor 
\iad  crushed  with  the  hammer  of  the  law,  and  startled  from 


ELISHA. 


67 


the  death-bed  of  a  prolonged  and  fearful  security,  with  the 
thunder  of  his  terrible  and  mighty  deeds. 

For  this  mild  vocation  he  had  long  before  been,  not  only 
Divinely  called,  but  also  imperceptibly  educated  and  prepared 
by  the  Lord.  All  his  spiritual  endowments  had  been  calcu- 
lated for  this  end  ;  nay,  more,  his  outward  life,  from  his  youth 
up,  Avith  its  innumerable,  apparently  accidental,  apparently 
unimportant  circumstances,  had  been  constrained,  although 
without  his  consciousness,  to  be  subservient  to  his  future 
ministerial  position. 

His  heart,  like  a  harp,  had  been  early  tuned  to  soft  accords. 
It  was  destined  to  sound  songs  of  love,  not  the  stormy  tones 
of  zeal.  He  grew  up  under  circumstances  especially  favor- 
able to  the  tenderer  emotions  of  the  soul. 

Amid  a  blossoming,  calm,  and  peaceful  landscape,  and  in 
the  narrow  yet  familiar  confines  of  a  quiet  rural  life,  he,  for 
many  a  year,  experienced  no  intellectual  influence,  except 
that  which,  with  the  blue  heaven  and  the  green  field,  the 
mild  sunshine  of  hallowed  maternal  love,  and  the  plain, 
unvarnished  piety  of  a  faithful  father,  exercised  over  him. 

His  whole  appearance,  on  reaching  manhood,  stood  in  the 
fairest  and  most  perfect  harmony  with  his  peculiar  mission. 
His  exterior  had  nothing  terrifying,  nothing  painfully  impo- 
sing, nothing  oppressive. 

The  most  diffident  felt  undisturbed  and  at  ease  in  his 
presence. 

His  course  is  marked  by  various  and  stupendous  miracles. 
His  first  act  appears  as  a  characteristic  symbol  of  his  whole 
career.     He  is  in  Jericho. 

The  inhabitants,  satisfied  of  his  miraculous  endowments, 
come  to  him  for  a  great  blessing.  Their  city  was  beautiful 
for  situation,  encompassed  with  an  evergreen  wreath  of  palm 
groves  and  perfumed  gardens  of  balm,  yet  the  wells  of  water 
were  as  if  poisoned,  and  the  manifold  misery  which  ensued, 
rendered  it  almost  an  object  of  regret  that  the  city  was 
rebuilt.  Elisha  hears  the  recital,  and  calmly  says,  "bring 
me  a  new  cruise,  and  put  salt  therein."  Then  in  company 
with  those  who  made  the  appeal,  he  goes  to  the  impure  foun- 


68 


ELISHA. 


tain  of  "waters,  and  taking  the  vessel  in  liis  right  hand,  with 
out  anj  pompous,  formal  introduction,  shakes  its  contents 
into  the  bubbling  waters,  calling  aloud,  with  a  distinct  voice, 
"  thus  saith  the  Lord,  I  have  healed  these  waters ;  there 
shall  not  be  from  thence,  any  more  death  or  barren  land." 

Behold,  how  faithfully  Elisha  Avatches  over  the  interests  of 
his  Master  !  How  carefully  he  seeks '  that  all  the  glory  may 
be  awarded  to  Him  to  whom  it  exclusively  belongs, — that 
not  even  a  ray  thereof  may  cleave  to  his  hands,  or  to  the 
outward  instrument  as  such. 

The  words  have  -scarcely  left  his  lips,  when  already  they 
have  exerted  their  miraculous  power,  and  healing  streams 
issue  forth,  to  spread  life  and  health  whithersoever  they  flow. 

It  was  after  leaving  Jericho,  and  while  on  his  way  to  Bethel, 
the  memorable  scene  occurred  between  him  and  the  band  of 
impious,  scoffing  youth,  which  resulted  in  their  signal  and 
utter  destruction,  being  torn  in  pieces  by  bears  from  the  wood. 

These  were  instruments  of  the  Divine  vengeance  upon 
those  who  dared  mock  a  holy  man  of  God. 

From  this  scene,  the  prophet  betook  himself  to  the  soli- 
tudes of  Mount  Carmel,  and  having  regained  his  composui'e, 
by  communion  Avith  his  God,  he  proceeded  to  Samaria. 

When  he  reached  that  cit}^,  the  united  armies  of  Israel 
were  upon  the  point  of  marching  out  against  Moab.  Three 
kings  banded  together  in  the  enterprise,  desire  to  know  of  its 
feasibility  and  ultimate  success.  Being  informed  of  Ehsha, 
they  repair  to  him,  and  as  he  sees  his  lofty  visitors  ap]Droach- 
ing,  he  exclaims  to  the  proud  king  of  Israel,  "  what  have  I 
to  do  with  thee  ?  Get  thee  to  tlie  prophets  of  thy  father,  and 
to  the  prophets  of  thy  mother." 

He  had  spurned  Jehovah  and  his  prophets  in  days  of  pros- 
perity, and  he  was  conscious  now  his  condescension  was 
owing  to  his  selfish  interest  and  ambition. 

Respect,  however,  for  the  king  of  Judah,-  led  him  to  regard 
their  cause,  and  he  called  for  a  "  minstrel." 

The  sweet  tones  still  the  storm  of  passion  within  the 
prophet's  breast,  and  his  soul  is  able  to  soar  again,  unhin- 
dered, upon  the  pinions  of  those  sweet  melodies,  wp  into  the 


ELISHA.  69 

blissful  presence  of  Jeliovali.  At  this  moment  the  Infinite 
bends,  with  the  voice  of  revelation,  to  his  seer,  and  he  speaks 
cheering  words  to  waiting  kings,  thus  convincing  them  of  his 
divine  mission  and  inspiration. 

The  war  with  Moab  ended,  Elisha  leaves  its  scenes,  and 
again  walks,  aiding  and  healing,  among  the  humble  and 
needy  of  the  people. 

He  meets  with  a  poor  widow,  overwhelmed  with  embar- 
rassments, unable  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  her  hard-hearted 
creditors.  Touched  with  compassion,  he  dries  her  tears,  by 
the  performance  of  a  miracle,  which  enabled  her  to  cancel 
her  obligations,  and  retain  some  provision  for  herself 

Next  he  appears  a  grateful  guest  in  the  cottage  at  Shunem. 
Grateful  for  the  kind  attentions  shown  him  there,  he  wished 
to  bestow  a  particular  favor,  and  accordingly  cheered  them 
with  the  promise  of  a  son. 

Time  passes  on  till  this  child  becomes  a  youth,  the  hope 
and  joy  of  his  parents,  the  fairest  star  in  the  cloudless  sky 
of  their  household. 

On  a  summer's  morning  he  is  brought  to  hia;  mother,  the 
victim  of  disease,  and  at  noon  lies  a  corpse  in  her  arms. 
The  bright  star  is  extinct,  the  sweet  flower  has  faded,  and 
with  it,  in  an  instant,  all  the  pleasant  spring-time  iu  the 
house  at  Shunem. 

The  sorely  tried  mourner  hastens  to  the  holy  seei,  and 
importunes  him  to  accompany  her,  and  yielding  to  her 
entreaties,  he  goes  to  the  chamber  of  death,  and  by  power 
delegated  to  him  from  above,  restores  the  child,  living  and 
Ireathing,  to  the  arms  of  a  joyful  parent. 

Pausing  not  in  his  labors  of  love,  he  goes  to  Gilgal,  and 
there  provides  an  antidote  for  poison  that  saves  many  people 
from  death,  and  also  supplies  a  famishing  multitude  with 
food,  from  a  surprisingly  scanty  store. 

His  fame  continued  to  spread  abroad.  An  Israelitish 
maiden  carried  to  Syria  the  tale  of  his  deeds,  and  looking 
upon  her  leprous  master,  she  exclaimed,  "would  God  my 
lord  were  with  the  prophet  that  is  in  Samaria  !  for  he  would 
recover  him  of  his  leprosy."     The  journey  was   speedily 


70  ELISHA. 

undertaken,  and  Naaman  tlie  Syrian  at  length  stands  before 
the  prophet.  "What  thrilling  wonders  shall  usher  in  the 
scene  ?  None !  The  simple  message,  "  go,  wash  in  Jordan 
seven  times,"  is  all  that  greets  his  eye  or  ear.  For  a  time  he 
is  wroth,  but  finally  bathes  his  diseased  body  in  the  soothing 
waters,  and  is  made  whole.  Then  did  he  acknowledge  Israel's 
God,  and  returning  to  Elisha's  cottage,  the  prophet  advances 
to  meet  him  with  a  friendly  greeting  and  congratulation. 
What  heavenly  streams  of  hallowed  love  and  rapture  here 
flow  together  from  Naaman's  heart  and  from  Elisha's.  The 
prophet  worked  not  for  earthly  reward,  and  therefore  refused 
the  proffered  gift  in  return. 

The  Lord  sustains  his  people,  and  afterward,  when  the 
Syrians  would  have  taken  Elisha,  the  Lord  smote  them 
with  blindness,  and  thus  delivered  his  servant  from  their 
power.  We  soon  see  him,  with  his  usual  spirit  of  love, 
predicting  peace  and  plenty  to  the  beseiged  inhabitants  of 
Samaria, 

Words  of  comfort  and  consolation  ever  seemed  to  flow 
spontaneously  from  his  heart.  Love  was  the  grand  seal 
stamped  upon  his  mission,  and  with  a  sweet  halo  it  clothed 
his  whole  prophetic  ministry. 

He  continued  his  prophetic  labors  to  the  last,  intent  upon 
his  Master's  will  in  his  last  sickness.  Having  accomplished 
it,  it  is  simply  said  of  him,  "  and  Elisha  died,  and  was 
buried." 

His  character  needs  no  eulogy.  It  speaks  for  itself.  It 
was  a  life  by  God  approved  and  blessed,  and  his  reward  is 
sare  as  heaven,  and  lasting  as  immortality. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

JOB'S  EXISTENCE  DOUBTED;  NOTED  FOR  WISDOM,  WEALTH,  AND  PIETY;  DEP 

RIVATION  OF  ALL  EARTHLY  POSSESSIONS;   SMITTEN  AVITH  GRIEVOUS 

DISEASE ;  PERFECT  SUBMISSION ;  FINAL  RESTORATION  OF  HIS 

HOPES  AND  JOYS;  REFLECTIONS  ON  THE  BOOK  OF  JOB. 

HERE  are  writers,  and  not  a  few,  who  seem 
disposed  to  regard  this  character  of  sacred  his- 
tory as  a  mere  creation  of  genius,  produced  to 
subserve  the  purpose  of  a  writer,  whose  design 
was,  indeed,  the  inculcation  of  important  truth, 
yet  who  found  not  in  any  phase  of  actual  life  a  sufficiently 
elevated  standard  for  his  purpose. 

We  are,  however,  inclined  to  receive  the  unqualified  dec- 
laration of  the  inspired  penman,  that  "there  was  a  man  in 
the  land  of  Uz  whose  name  was  Job." 

Instead,  therefore,  of  considering  him  an  ideal  being, 
invested  with  certain  feelings  and  attributes,  drawn  only  from 
imagination,  we  have  him  at  once  presented  to  us  as  a  living, 
actual  being,  and  in  a  manner  so  interesting  and  engaging, 
that  we  are  constrained  at  the  very  outset,  to  award  to  him 
a  character  of  surpassing  excellence,  and  singular  integrity. 

Eminent  for  his  wisdom,  wealth  and  piety,  he  is  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  "  greatest  of  all  the  men  of  the  East,"  and 
attracts  signal  admiration  by  his  rare  preservation  of  pious 
virtues  amid  a  scene  of  almost  unexampled  prosperity,  as 
well  as  heroic  fortitude  under  the  most  melancholy  reverses  ; 
which  latter  circumstance  not  only  obtained  for  him  transient 
fame,  but  rendered  him  to  all  coming  generations,  a  bright 
example  of  christian  patience  and  resignation  under  accumu- 
lated sorrows. 

The  sacred  historian  at  once  introduces  us  to  his  Eastern 
home,  surrounded  by  affluence,  and  gladdened  by  the  pres- 
ence of  sons  and  daughters ;    thus  leaving  imagination  to 


72  JOB. 

draw  a  grateful  picture  of  domestic  and  social  happiness, 
whicli  their  loving  intercourse  between  themselves  seems  to 
justify. 

Job  had  large  possessions;  flocks  and  herds  numbered 
by  thousands,  and  a  numerous  retinue  of  servants  at  his 
command  to  minister  to  his  pleasure,  and  promote  his  ad- 
vantage. He  seems,  however,  to  have  been  far  from  giving 
himself  up  to  the  sole  enjoyment  of  sensual  gratification,  and 
a  life  of  luxurious  ease,  but  betrays  aims  and  aspirations 
higher  and  nobler  than  the  accumulation  of  earthly  treas- 
ures, or  their  mere  enjoyment. 

The  first  occasion  of  his  action  given  us,  shows  the  pre- 
vailing sentiments  of  his  heart, — a  high  regard  for  the  best 
interests  of  others,  with  a  holy  solicitude  for  the  Divine 
honor.  The  frequent  festivals  that  called  his  children 
together  being  ended,  he  called  them  to  his  presence  and 
"  sanctified  them  ;"  or,  as  we  may  suppose,  with  true  parental 
tenderness  and  anxiety,  affectionately  and  faithfully  coun- 
seled them,  and  then  "  offered  burnt  offerings  to  the  number 
of  them  all,"  to  atone  for  the  sins  they  perhaps  might  have 
committed. 

But  the  position  and  character  of  such  a  man  escapes  not 
the  malicious  darts  of  the  enemy,  and  Satan  accuses  him  to 
God,  as  a  selfish  person  who  serves  him  only  for  the  hope 
of  secular  rewards, — whose  conduct,  so  exemplary,  is  occa- 
sioned by  the  thought  that  it  will  procure  for  him  more 
abundant  prosperity. 

Thereupon  he  receives  power  to  test  the  purity  of  his 
motives,  and  the  strength  of  his  character,  restrained,  how- 
ever, from  personal  attack.  Accordingly  he  goes  forth,  and 
while  Job  was  in  the  midst  of  bright  and  prosperous  days, 
with  a  seemingly  cloudless  sky  above  him,  and  every  thing 
hopeful  and  promising  around  him,  he  suddenly  crushes  his 
fondest  hopes,  and  blights  his  fairest  prospects. 

Behold  him  at  the  arrival  of  the  unexpected  messenger, 
who  tells  him  how  the  Sabeans  have  not  only  taken  his  cattle, 
but  slain  his  servants  who  were  with  them,  he  alone  escaping 
to  tell  him  !     And  see  how  ere  the  first  feeling  of  surprise  is 


JOB.  73 

over,  anotlier  and  still  anotner  comes  to  proclaim  tlie  desola- 
tion which  fires  from  heaven  and  Chaldean  bands  have  made 
in  his  vast  possessions,  depriving  him  at  once  not  only  of 
his  numerous  flocks,  but  his  faithful  servants. 

Surely  this  were  enough  for  one  man  to  bear,  but  were 
this  all,  it  were  comparatively  light.  Scarcely  had  the  last 
finished  his  story,  when  the  climax  appeared  in  the  astound- 
ing intelligence  that  his  family  too  were  destroyed,  and  one 
fearful  stroke  had  bereft  him  of  his  ten  children. 

The  loss  of  all  worldly  goods  might  be  endured  ;  and  the 
sudden  change  from  affluence  to  penury  be  tolerable,  were 
the  love  and  sympathy  of  his  children  retained.  But  all  is 
gone.  Surely,  human  nature  will  no  longer  be  able  to  sus- 
tain the  crushing  weight  of  sorrow,  and  will  sink  irrecover- 
ably beneath  it.  But  no !  he  cherished  no  rebellious  feelings, 
uttered  no  murmuring  words,  and  in  the  intensity  and 
poignancy  of  his  grief  gave  utterance  to  that  expressive 
language  of  resignation  which  has  found  a  response  in  so 
many  christian  hearts  since  then,  and  showed  his  own,  firmly 
anchored  where  earth's  sweeping  billows  could  not  reach  it, 
even  this  :  "  The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away; 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

He  did  not  charge  God  with  acting  unkindly  toward  him, 
but  felt  as  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  privation  which  the 
hand  of  God  had  occasioned,  as  he  was  with  the  affluence 
and  health  that  hand  had  bestowed. 

This  is  a  transaction  indeed,  that  gives  a  strong  and  vivid 
coloring  to  the  character  of  Job,  and  makes  him  a  perfect 
pattern  of  patience  and  holy  submission  under  the  most 
severe  and  complicated  trials. 

In  this  Satan  was  utterly  disappointed ;  he  found  a  man 
who  loved  his  God  more  than  his  earthly  portion,  and  enraged 
to  be  thus  baffled,  he  presented  himself  once  more  before 
God,  and  asserted  that  Job  continued  thus  faithful  because 
he  knew  that  God  would  reward  his  constancy  with  an  equal 
or  even  greater  portion  of  earthly  blessings ;  but  if  he  would 
afflict  his  body  by  some  grievous  disease,  he  would  soon 
rbandon  his  service,  and  be  at  the  end  of  his  patience. 


74:  JOB. 

In  order  fully  to  show  the  piety  of  this  exemplary  man, 
the  Lord  permitted  him  to  do  as  he  pleased,  and  he  became 
the  subject  of  continued  and  protracted  suffering,  the 
aggravation  of  which  was  heightened  by  the  loss  of  his 
usual  comforts,  in  a  temporal  point  of  view. 

His  wife,  who  was  still  spared  him,  thought  his  situation 
sufficiently  trying  to  excite  bitter  murmurings,  and  with  a 
spirit  not  at  all  in  unison  with  his,  intimated  the  worth- 
lessness  of  his  confidence,  and  the  folly  of  maintaining  his 
integrity,  since  it  was  of  so  little  apparent  advantage.  The 
afiiicted,  suffering  husband  heard  9nly  to  rebuke,  and  with 
a  still  trusting  heart  exclaimed: — "Shall  we  receive  good 
at  the  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  ?" 
As  if  to  say,  "shall  we  murmur  when  he  afflicts  us  for  a 
day,  since  he  has  given  us  health  for  so  many  years?  Shall 
we  complain  about  momentary  privations,  when  he  has  given 
us  such  a  long  successson  of  enjoyments?  His  blessings 
are  his  own ;  he  never  gave,  but  only  lent  them.  "We  have 
had  the  long,  the  free,  the  unmerited  use  of  them,  and  shall 
we  be  offended  at  the  owner,  when  he  comes  to  claim  his 
own  property  ?" 

The  testimony  given  of  Job  in  all  this,  is  that  "  he  sinned 
not."  He  still  exercised  the  same  pious  trust  in  heaven, — ■ 
showed  the  same  devout  submission,  though  propert}^,  family 
and  health  had  all  forsaken  him. 

His  friends  came  together  to  comfort  him,  but  his  was  that 
silent,  soul-felt  grief,  that  words  only  mock ;  and  for  seven 
days  and  nights  they  sat  hy  him,  with  no  attempt  to  answer 
the  design  of  their  visit ;  but  at  length  he  opened  his  mouth 
to  wish  he  had  long  since  reached  that  land  where  the 
weary  rest,  and  the  wicked  trouble  not. 

Then  follows  those  chapters  of  protracted  converse  between 
themselves,  which  drew  from  Job  the  expression  that  his 
friends  were  "  miserable  comforters,"  and  strongly  marks  in 
the  case  of  the  former,  the  struggle  of  piety  and  resignation 
with  continued  affliction,  violent  temptation,  and  gloomy 
providences. 

At  one  time  Satan  seems  to  have  access  to  his  mind,  and 


JOB.  75 

he  laments  tlie  change  in  his  former  condition,  and  bewails 
his  unparalled  sufferings  ;  but  again  he  rises  to  joyful  exul- 
tation, and  exclaims,  "  I  know  that  my  Eedeemer  liveth." 

For  a  brief  period  he  asserts  his  own  innocence,  and  anon 
condemns  himself,  and  fully  justifies  the  ways  of  God  to  man. 

A  little  season  he  is  downcast,  and  anticipates  a  speedy 
death,  and  upon  this  he  looks  up,  and  with  holy  confidence 
declares,  "  though  He  slay  me,  yet  I  will  trust  in  Him." 

Now  he  is  fully  conscious  of  the  presence  of  God,  and 
then  with  sadness  of  spirit  he  is  heard  to  say,  "  O  that  I  but 
knew  where  I  might  find  him." 

Thus  was  Job  led  through  a  variety  of  experience,  and 
having  been  sufiiciently  tried  to  answer  the  purpose  designed 
by  heaven,  the  Lord  turned  again  his  captivity,  and 
caused  the  brightness  of  his  former  days  to  encircle  his  life, 
and  a  double  measure  of  prosperity  to  be  given  him. 

He  came  forth  from  affliction'  "  as  gold  tried  in  the  fire," 
having  shown  the  unmistakable  elements  of  christian 
character,  and  hopes  placed  upon  the  sure  basis — the  immov- 
able foundation, — even  the  Eternal  Rock. 

Now  was  he  prepared  for  a  heartier  appreciation,  and  to 
enter  with  a  keener  and  purer  zest  into  the  enjoyment  of  ^11 
those  things  which  the  Lord  graciously  pleased  should  crown 
the  remainder  of  his  days  as  a  rcAvard  for  his  faithfulness 
and  integrity  during  his  season  of  temptation  and  trial. 

His  brothers  and  sisters,  friends  and  acquaintances  returned 
unto  him  with  words  of  comfort  and  consolation,  and  in 
this  are  we  presented  with  a  striking  view  of  human  friend- 
ship. His  hretliren^  who  in  the  time  of  his  affliction,  kept  at 
a  distance  from  him ;  his  kinsfolk,  who  ceased  to  know  him ; 
his  familiar  friends,  who  had  forgotten  him,  and  his  acquaint- 
ance who  had  made  themselves  perfect  strangers  to  him; 
those  to  whom  he  had  showed  kindness,  and  who  had  un- 
gratefully neglected  him,  on  the  return  of  his  prosperity 
now  come  and  condole  with  him,  desirous  of  renewing  their 
former  intimacy ;  and  according  to  the  custom  of  Eastern 
countries,  where  there  is  no  approaching  a  great  man  without 
a  testimonial  of  regard,  each  one  brings  a  jewel  of  gold. 


7Q  JOB. 

Some  suppose  his  friends  the  cause  of  his  sudden  accumu- 
lation of  property  ;  that  they  did  not  visit  him,  nor  seek  his 
familiarity  because  he  was  again  prosperous,  but  because  they 
saw  that  God  had  ^^  turned  his  captivity,''^  and  miraculously 
healed  him.  This  gave  them  full  proof  of  his  innocence, 
and  they  no  longer  considered  him  a  person  whom  they 
should  avoid  and  detest,  but  one  who  had  been  suffering 
under  a  strange  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,  and  who 
was  now  no  longer  a  suspicious  character,  but  a  favorite  of 
heaven,  to  whom  they  should  show  qyqyj  possible  kindness. 
They  therefore  joined  hands  with  God  to  make  the  poor 
man  live,  and  their  presents  were  the  cause  under  God,  of  his 
restoration  to  affluence. 

Others  suppose  that  Job,  being  miraculously  restored, 
armed  his  servants  and  remaining  friends,  and  fell  upon  those 
who  had  spoiled  him,  and  not  only  recovered  his  own  prop- 
erty, but  also  spoiled  the  spoilers,  and  thus  his  substance 
became  double  what  it  was  before. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  "  the  Lord  blessed  the  latter  end  of  Job 
more  than  the  beginning,"  and  peace  and  plenty  once  more 
surrounded  him. 

•^Fair  daughters  and  many  sons  were  again  around  him, 
and  for  a  full  hundred  and  forty  years  he  rejoiced  in  the 
good  things  of  this  life, — an  enjoyment  greatly  heightened  by 
his  recognition  of  the  Divine  favor  and  goodness  in  it  all. 

How  long  he  lived  before  the  days  of  his  adversity  is  not 
fully  known.  Some  think  it  was  a  time  precisely  equal  to 
that  he  saw  after,  and  others  think  still  longer. 

That  he  died  "oZcZ  and  full  of  days,"  is  the  record  we  have 
of  him.     That  he  died  satisfied  with  this  life^  is  also  evident. 

He  had  seen  life  in  all  its  varieties ;  he  had  risen  higher 
than  all  the  men  of  the  East,  and  sunk  lower  in  affliction, 
poverty  and  distress,  than  any  other  human  being  that  had 
existed  before,  or  has  lived  since. 

He  knew  the  worst  and  the  best  of  human  life ;  and  in 
himself  the  whole  history  of  Providence  was  exemplified 
and  illustrated,  and  many  of  its  mysteries  unfolded. 

Rarely,  if  ever,  even  in  sacred  history,  do  we  find  one  in 


JOB.  77 

•whom  the  true  graces  of  character  are  more  happily  blended, 
than  in  Job ;  none  who  afford  a  more  perfect  exemplifica- 
tion of  the  cardinal  virtues  of  Christianity  amid  a  painful 
combination  of  circumstances  that  were  such,  as  not  only  to 
task  human  nature  to  its  utmost  point  of  endurance,  but 
also  try  with  untold  severity  the  keener  and  more  sensitive 
part  of  being — the  spiritual  nature. 

It  v/as  said  of  him,  that  he  "was  perfect  and  upright, 
fearing  God  and  eschewing  evil,"  and  such  a  character  surely 
approximates  in  a  good  degree  to  the  gospel  standard  of  per- 
fection ;  for  in  this  is  comprised  the  height  and  depth  of 
christian  character;  the  length  and  breadth  of  christian  duty 
and  experience.  It  shows  the  purpose  of  existence  accom- 
plished,— the  end  of  life  gained,  and  the  individual  ready 
for  the  sentence  of  joyful  acquittal  at  the  court  of  heaven. 

The  patience,  resignation  and  submission  of  Job  to  the 
Divine  will,  are  the  most  prominent  points  of  his  character 
which  are  presented  to  our  view.  He  bore  the  loss  of  every 
thing  which  a  worldly  man  values,  without  one  unsanctified 
feeling,  or  murmuring  word.  And  it  is  in  this  respect 
that  he  is  recommended  to  our  notice,  and  to  our  imitation. 
His  loailings  relative  to  the  mental  agonies  through  which  he 
passed,  do  not  at  all  affect  this  part  of  his  character.  He 
bore  the  loss  of  his  goods,  the  total  ruin  of  his  extensive  and 
invaluable  establishment,  and  the  destruction  of  his  hopes 
in  the  awful  death  of  his  children,  without  uttering  a  repre- 
hensible word,  or  indulging  an  irreligious  feeling. 

The  greatest,  the  most  important  purposes  were  accom- 
plished by  his  trial. 

He  became  a  much  better  man  than  ever  he  was  before ; 
the  dispensations  of  God's  providence  were  illustrated  and 
justified  ;  Satan's  devices  unmasked  ;  patience  crowned  and 
rewarded,  and  the  Church  of  God  greatly  enriched  by  having 
bequeathed  to  it  the  vast  treasury  of  Divine  truth  which  is 
found  in  the  Book  of  Job. 

Various  opinions  exist  as  to  the  authenticity  of  this  book ; 
and  much  controversy  has  been  excited  with  reference  to  the 
questions,  ^'when,  hoiu,  and  by  whom  was  it  written?" 


78  JOB. 

Learned  men  have  given  us  the  result  of  their  conjectures, 
and  where  one  has  come  to  consider  it  rather  as  a  splendid 
poem  on  an  ethic  subject,  than  a  real  history  of  the  man  whose 
name  it  bears,  another  looks  upon  it  as  a  mere  prose  allego- 
ry ;  while  multitudes  of  others  have  each  their  own  favorite 
opinions. 

But,  whoever  was  the  author,  and  in  whatsoever  time  it 
may  have  been  written,  the  Jewish  and  -Christian  church 
have  ever  received  it  as  a  canonical  book,  recommended  by 
the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty. 

That  it  has  a  grand  use,  every  christian  knows,  for  it  casts 
much  light  on  seemingly  partial  displays  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, and  has  ever  been  the  great  text-book  of  godly  men 
in  a  state  of  persecution  and  affliction. 

It  is  in  many  respects  an  obscure  book,  because  it  refers 
to  all  the  wisdom  of  the  East. 

It  shows  the  author  well  acquainted  with  all  the  wisdom 
and  learning  of  the  ancient  world,  and  of  his  own  times,  as 
it  obviously  makes  continual  references  to  sciences  the  most 
exalted  and  useful,  and  to  arts  the  most  difficult  and  orna- 
mental. 

As  a  poet  he  stands  next  to  David  and  Isaiah ;  and  as 
his  subjects  have  been  more  varied  than  theirs,  he  well  knew 
how  to  avail  himself 'of  this  circumstance,  and  has  pressed 
into  his  service  all  the  influence  and  beauty  of  his  art,  to 
make  the  four  persons  whom  he  brings  upon  the  stage,  keep 
up  each  his  proper  character,  and  maintain  the  opinions 
which  they  respectively  undertook  to  defend.  The  systematic 
arrangement  which  is  discoverable  in  the  book,  shows  three 
distinct  series  of  arguments,  in  each  of  which  the  speakers 
are  regularly  allov,'ed  their  respective  turns,  and  at  their  close 
a  summing  up  of  the  whole  controversy  is  given,  with  its 
effect  on  those  concerned.  A  suffering  hero  is  at  first  pre- 
sented to  us,  surrounded  by  his  so-called  friends,  who  for 
seven  successive  days  and  nights  observe  a  most  profound 
silence,  being  awed  and  confounded  at  sight  of  the  unprece- 
dented affliction  and  sorrow  which  met  their  eyes.  Then 
Eliphaz  the  Temanite,  having  sufficiently  contemplated  the 


JOB.  79 

scene  before  him,  and  heard  the  bitter  complaint  of  his 
friend,  seems  to  forget  he  came  as  a  comforter,  and  not  as  a 
reprover,  and  opens  his  mouth  in  words  that  seem  calcuhated 
to  tear  from  the  sufferer  his  only  remaining  consolation, — 
the  testimony  of  a  good  conscience, — by  intimating  that  if  he 
possessed  that  righteousness  of  which  he  boasted,  he  would 
not  have  been  so  suddenly  cast  down  by  adversity. 

To  give  himself  the  more  authority,  he  professes  to  have 
received  a  vision  from  God,  in  which  he  was  taught  the 
secret  of  the  Divine  dispensations  in  Providence,  and  a  con- 
firmation of  the  doctrine  which  he  was  now  stating  to  his 
friend,  but  which  he  applies  in  a  different  manner  to  what 
was  designed. 

He  indeed  employs  beautiful  figures  and  forcible  allusions, 
and  has  many  wise  sayings  and  marked  instances  to  illustrate 
his  point,  but  he  miserably  perverts  them  in  his  application 
of  them  to  Job's  case  and  character. 

Painfully  sensible  of  this,  the  afQicted  man  severely  re- 
bukes his  inconsistency,  and  in  the  bitterness  of  his  soul 
complains  of  the  harshness  and  deceitfulness  of  his  friends, 
whom  he  compares  to  a  "  deceitful  brook,''  and  relates  in  a 
touching  manner  the  peculiar  aggravation  of  the  sorrow 
which  filled  his  "wearisome  days,"  that  seemed  bereft  of 
even  the  cheering  rays  of  hope. 

Bildad,  another  of  the  company,  interprets  some  of  the 
words  of  Job  as  an  attempt  to  justify  himself,  and  interrupts 
him  by  saying  that  God  is  just,  and  punishes  only  for 
iniquity,  and  refers  to  the  ancients  as  signal  examples  of 
the  truth. 

He  produces  instances  in  the  vegetable  world, — the  rush 
and  the  flag,  and  other  things  of  brief  duration,  to  show  how 
soon  the  wicked  are  cut  off,  and  their  hopes  perish,  at  the 
same  time  asserting  that  God  never  did  cast  off  a  perfect 
man,  and  that  if  his  friend  was  in  reality  innocent,  tlie 
result  would  show  it,  for  in  that  case  his  end  of  necessity, 
must  be  prosperous. 

Quite  as  conscious  of  man's  sinfulness  as  his  friends,  and 
as  fully  confident  of  the  Divine  justice,  Job  can  not  forbear 


80  JOB. 

an  acknowledgement  of  these  trutlis,  and  he  replies  to  cele- 
brate in  a  sublime  manner  the  almighty  power  of  God,  as 
he  saw  it  manifested  in  the  earth,  and  the  heavens.  The 
elements  around  him,  the  constellations  above  him,  teach 
him  a  lesson  of  unmistakeable  import,  and  he  makes  use 
of  it  to  sustain  the  position  he  assumes.  With  Him  alone 
who  "spreadeth  out  the  heavens,  and  treadeth  upon  the 
waves  of  the  sea;  which  maketh  Arcturus,  Orion,  and 
Pleiades,  and  the  chambers  of  the  south ;  which  doeth  great 
things  past  finding  out;  yea,  and  wonders  without  num- 
ber,"— even  with  such  a  one  would  I  plead  my  cause. 

Zophar,  the  last  of  the  three,  can  no  longer  restrain  him- 
self, but  instead  of  applying  balm  to  the  wounds  his  friends 
had  made,  he  probes  still  deeper,  and  becomes  his  most 
inveterate  accuser. 

He  addresses  himself  to  one  who  is  already  overburdened 
with  grief,  and  says,  "0  that  God  would  speak,  and  open 
his  lips  against  thee;"  then  wouldst  thou  "know  that  he 
exacteth  of  thee  less  than  thine  iniquity  deserveth;" — a 
prayer  that  shows  little  of  feeling  or  charity,  and  quite  as 
little  humanity. 

Wert  thou  onl}'-  righteous,  he  says,  or  if  thou  wilt  become 
so,  then  shall  thy  prosperity  arise  bright  as  the  "morning," 
and  clear  as  the  "  noonday." 

To  this  Job  replies  in  language  of  strong  irony,  "No 
doubt  ye  are  the  people,  and  wisdom  shall  die  with  you," — as 
if  to  say,  human  wisdom  may  be  concentrated  in  you,  and 
when  you  die,  it  may  not  be  found  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 

He  protracts  his  discourse,  in  which  he  again  strongly 
rebukes  the  harsh  and  uncharitable  judgment  of  liis  friends, 
appeals  to  the  Lord  for  encouragement  and  hope,  and  ai'gues 
the  misery  and  sinfulness  of  man's  life ;  giving  an  idea  of  its 
shortness  by  many  happily  chosen  images,  like  the  follow- 
ing: "  Man  Cometh  forth  like  afloiuer^  and  is  soon  cut  down ; 
he  fleeth  also  as  a  shadow^  and  continueth  not.  His  days  are 
swifter  than  a  iveavers  shuttle; — SAvifter  than  a  frost ;  they 
flee  away,  they  see  no  good.  They  are  passed  away  as  the 
swift  shijjs  ;  as  an  eagk  that  hasteth  to  the  prey." 


JOB.  81 

Once  and  again  after  this,  the  three  friends  of  Job  go 
through  with  their  round  of  argument,  to  the  same  purpose, 
and  in  each  instance  are  met  with  a  response  from  him, 
showing  his  adherence  to  his  former  position. 

In  all  Job  seems  to  have  the  advantage,  while  the  speeches 
of  his  friends  show  but  little  besides  a  tissue  of  borrowed 
luise  sayings,  and  ancient  proverbs  and  maxims,  relative  to 
God,  and  his  moral  government  of  the  world;  from  the 
seemingly  inexhaustible  treasures  of  his  own  mind,  he  seems 
to  draw  at  ease,  everjr  desirable  material  for  the  expression 
of  his  thoughts  and  feelings. 

What  more  beautiful  than  his  exaltation  of  heavenly  wis- 
dom, the  beauty  and  excellency  of  which  he  faintly  shadows 
forth  by  "  costly  rubies ;"  and  his  use  of  the  majestic  appear- 
ances of  nature,  to  speak  the  power  and  glory  of  the  Om- 
nipotent. 

Nothing  is  brought  to  issue,  and  weary  at  last  with  their 
own  repetitions,  his  friends  give  up  the  contest,  and  Elihu,  a 
bystander,  perceiving  this,  comes  forward  and  takes  a  part, 
and  though  he  speaks  well,  he  is  incapable  of  closing  the 
controversy,  and  God  himself  appears  at  last  and   decides 

the  case. 

In  the  speech  of  Elihu  every  thing  appears  to  be  original ; 
he  speaks  from  a  deep  and  comprehensive  mind,  that  had 
profoundly  studied  the  subjects  on  which  he  discoursed.  His 
descriptions  of  the  Divine  attributes,  and  of  the  wonderful 
works  of  God,  are  correct,  splendid,  impressive ^  and  inimi- 
table. Having  come  nearly  to  a  close,  and  knowing  that  the 
Almighty  would  appear  and  speak  for  himself,  he  judiciously 
prepares  for  and  announces  his  coming  by  thunder  and  light- 
ning, of  which  he  gives  a  terrific  and  majestic  description. 
The  evidences  of  the  Divine  presence  throng  on  his  eyes  and 
mind ;  the  incomprehensible  glory  and  excellency  of  God 
confound  all  his  powers  of  reasoning  and  description  ;  he 
can  not  arrange  his  words  by  reason  of  darkness,  and  he 
concludes  with  stating,  that  to  poor  weak  man  God  must  for 
ever  remain  incomprehensible,  and  a  subject  of  deep  relig- 
ious fear  and  reverence. 

6 


82  JOB. 

Just  tlien  tlie  terrible  majesty  of  tlie  Lord  appears  !  Eliliu 
is  silent. 

The  rusliing  miglaty  wind,  for  which  the  description  of  the 
thunder  and  lightning  had  prepared  poor,  confounded,  aston- 
ished Job,  proclaims  the  presence  of  Jehovah :  and  out  of 
this  whirlwind  God  answers  for  and  proclaims  himself. 

Such  new  and  wonderful  disclosures  of  the  Infinite,  hum- 
bled Job  to  the  earth,  and  brought  him  to  the  very  point 
heaven  designed  he  should  be  brought. 

While  his  three  friends  were  standing  in  need  of  sacrifice 
to  insure  favor,  the  fullness  of  the  Divine  blessing  descended 
upon  the  penitent  man,  and  he  was  at  once  reinstated  in  his 
former  dignitj^,  with  more  than  his  former  wealth  and  pros- 
l^erity.  The  whole  is,  indeed,  a  powerfully  wrought  picture, 
with  harmony  of  design  and  most  exquisite  shading. 

The  book  is  evidently  a  poem,  and  one  too,  of  the  highest 
order,  dealing  in  subjects  the  most  grand  and  sublime ;  using 
imagery  the  most  chaste  and  appropriate,  described  b}'  lan- 
guage the  most  happy  and  energetic;  conveying  instruction 
both  in  Divine  and  human  things,  the  most  ennobling  and 
useful ;  abounding  in  precepts  the  most  pure  and  exalted, 
Avhich  are  enforced  by  arguments  the  most  strong  and  con- 
clusive, and  illustrated  by  examples  the  most  natural  and 
striking. 

It  is  genuine  poetry^  which  has  been  compared  to  "a  moun- 
tain flood,  pouring  down,  resistless  in  its  might,  bursting  all 
bounds,  wearing  its  own  channel,  carrying  woods  and  rocks 
before  it,  and  spreading  itself  abroad,  both  deej)  and  wide, 
over  all  the  plain," 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  it,  it  is  on  all  hands  accounted  a 
work  that  contains  "the  purest  morality,  the  sublim est  phi- 
losophy,  the  simplest  ritual,  and  a  most  majestic  creed." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PKOEABLE  TIME  OF  APPOINTMENT  TO  TEE  SACRED  OFFICE;   LENGTH  OF  TIME 
THEREIN;    TRADITIONS  OF  HIS  FAMILY  AND  HIS  OWN  DEATH. 

-Y  ISAIAH  very  little  is  known.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  been  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  and  of  the 
royal  family  of  David.  Himself  says  that  he 
was  the  son  of  Amoz ;  and  others  tell  us  that 
this  Amoz  was  the  son  of  Joash,  and  brother  of 
Amaziah,  king  of  Judah.  "Of  his  family' and  tribe  we 
know  nothing,"  says  E.  D.  Krinchi,  "  only  our  rabbins  of 
blessed  memory  have  received  the  tradition  that  Amoz  and 
Amaziah  were  brothers;"  and  it  is  on  this  ground  that  he 
has  beeu  called  the  royal  prophet.  Several  commentators  have 
thought  that  his  prophesies  afford  presumptive  evidence  of 
his  high  descent  and  elegant  education : 

1.  Because  his  style  is  more  correct  and  majestic  than  any 
of  the  other  prophets. 

2.  That  his  frequent  use  of  images  taken  from  royalty  is 
a  proof  that  this  state  was  familiar  to  him,  being  much  at 
court,  as  he  must  have  been,  had  he  been  the  brother  of  the 
king. 

These  things  are  spoken  by  many  with  much  confidence ; 
but  the  circumstance  that  he  drew  directly  from  the  fount  of 
Divine  inspiration,  gives  a  surer  basis  for  the  correctness  of 
his  style,  and  the  dignity  of  his  sentiments,  than  those  infe- 
rior helps.  On  the  other  hypothesis,  nothing  is  left  to  the 
Divine  Spirit,  except  the  mere  matter  of  the  prophecies. 
Suppositions  of  this  kind  are  not  creditable  to  Divine  reve- 
lation. 

That  Isaiah  obtained  a  solemn  designation  to  the  prophetic 
office,  is  sure. 

The  vision  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  his  prophecy,  which  con- 
tains the  particulars  of  this,  is  thought  by  most  interpreters 


84  ISAIAH. 

to  be  the  first  in  order  of  his  prophecies,  but  as  many 
things  tend  to  show  they  were  not  placed  in  exact  order  of 
time,  this  may  be  considered  a  new  designation,  to  introduce 
more  solemnly  a  general  dedication  of  the  whole  course  of 
God's  dispensations  in  regard  to  his  people  and  the  destiny 
of  the  nation. 

In  this  vision  the  ideas  are  taken  in  general  from  royal 
majcst}^,  as  displayed  by  the  monarchs  of  the  East ;  for  the 
prophet  could  not  represent  the  ineffable  presence  of  God  by 
an}^  other  than  sensible  and  earthly  images.  The  particular 
scenery  of  it  seems  to  be  taken  from  the  temple. 

The  special  mission  of  Isaiah  was  to  the  Jews.  He  was  a 
faithful  messenger,  declaring  the  "whole  counsel  of  God,"  on 
all  occasions  exhorting  the  people  to  regard  the  Divine  com- 
munication as  a  matter  of  personal  concern  and  highest  inter- 
est. From  the  time  the  heavenly  vision  had  constrained  him 
to  a  self-pronounced  "  wo,"  he  had  seemed  to  perform  his 
duties  with  an  abiding  sense  of  the  responsibility  of  a  heaven- 
commissioned  prophet.  We  see  him  showing  the  same  earn- 
estness whether  proclaiming  the  solemn  denunciations  of 
God's  wrath  against  the  sins  of  his  people,  or  bearing  mes- 
sages of  mercy  and  promises  of  deliverance  to  the  chosen  ones. 

His  sublime  annunciations  with  regard  to  the  Eedeemer  of 
the  world  have  long  since  received  a  complete  and  glorious 
fulfillment,  while  others  relative  to  the  Jewish  nation  are  still 
depending,  and  will  not  be  fully  accomplished  till  the  final 
restoration  of  Israel. 

That  he  exercised  the  prophetical  office  during  a  long 
period  of  time,  is  evident,  if  he  lived  to  the  reign  of  Manas- 
seh  ;  for  the  lowest  computation,  beginning  from  the  j'ear  in 
which  Uzziah  died,  when  some  suppose  him  to  have  received 
his  first  appointment  to  that  office,  brings  it  to  sixty-one 
years.  Yet  circumstances  exist  which  render  it  more  prob- 
able that  he  died  before  Hezekiah. 

It  is,  however,  certain  that  he  lived  at  least  to  the  fifteenth 
or  sixteenth  year  of  this  king ;  thus  making  the  least  possible 
term  of  the  duration  of  his  prophetical  office  about  forty- 
eight  years. 


JEREMIAH.  85 

The  time  of  tlie  delivery  of  some  of  his  prophecies  is 
either  expressly  marked,  or  sufficiently  clear  from  the  history 
to  which  they  relate ;  that  of  a  few  others  may  with  some 
probability  be  deduced  from  internal  marks ;  from  expres- 
sions, descriptions,  and  circumstances  interwoven. 

Isaiah  appears  to  have  had  two  sons,  who  were  typical  in 
their  names ;  one  Shear -jashub,  a  "  remnant  shall  return  ;" 
and  the  other  Maher-shalal-hashbaz,  "haste  to  the  spoil; 
quick  to  the  prey ;"  and  it  is  remarkable  that  his  wife  is 
called  a  prophetess.  It  has  also  been  said  that  he  gave  his 
daughter  in  marriage  to  Manasseh,  son  of  Hezekiah,  king  of 
Judah ;  and  that  himself  was  put  to  death  by  Manasseh,  being 
sawn  asunder  with  a  wooden  saw.  These  traditions,  however, 
stand  on  very  slender  authority,  and  are  worthy  of  very  little 
regard.  What  though  Scripture  and  history  be  alike  silent 
as  to  the  mannei  of  his  death,  it  is  sufficient  to  know  God 
provides  for  his  faithful  ones,  by  bringing  them  to  himself, 
and  dispensing  from  his  own  hand  their  appropriate  reward 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

CALL  TO  PROPHETIC  IX  EARLY  YOUTH ;  RELUCTANCE  TO  ASSUME  IT  ON  THIS 
ACCOUNT;  PERSECUTION  AND  IMPllISONMEMT;  CAPTIVITY  AND  DEATH. 

HE  prophet  Jeremiah,  son  of  Hilkiah,.was  of  the 

sacerdotal  race,  and  a  native  of  Anathoth,  a  vil 

lage  in  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  within  a  few  miles 

of  Jerusalem,  which  had  been  appointed  for  the 

use  of  the  priests,  the  descendants  of  Aaron. 

He  was  called  to  the  prophetic  office  when  very  young , 

probably  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of   age,  and  in  the 

thirteenth  of  the  reign  of  Josiah.     A.  M.  3375,  B.  C.  629. 

On  account  of  his  youth  and  incapacity  for  the  work,  he 
endeavored  to  excuse  himself;  but,  being  overruled  by  the 
Divine  authority,  he  undertook  the  task,  and  performed  it 


86  JEREMIAH. 

with  matclaless  zeal  and  fidelity  in  the  midst  of  a  most 
crooked  and  perverse  people,  by  whom  he  was  continually 
persecuted,  and  whom  he  boldly  reproved,  often  at  the 
hazard  of  his  life. 

At  one  time  persecuted  and  imprisoned,  his  faith  wavered, 
and  he  formed  a  hasty  resolution  to  renounce  the  prophetic 
ofiice,  and  make  no  more  mention  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  ; 
but  the  voice  of  accusing  conscience  speedily  called  him  to 
reflection,  and  he  was  ashamed  of  his  own  weakness,  that 
did  not  confide  in  the  Divine  promise.  A  holy  determination 
to  go  on,  relying  upon  the  Lord,  delivered  him  from  all  fear, 
and  enabled  him  to  exult  in  the  Divine  protection.  Though 
he  remained  in  the  same  circumstances,  with  strong  confi- 
dence in  a  strong  God,  he  pursued  his  calling,  fearing  not  his 
adversaries.  Subsequently  his  bold  and  fearless  utterance 
of  the  Divine  predictions  brought  him  to  the  dungeon,  but 
his  heart  remained  strong,  and  his  courage  firm. 

He  continued  to  prophesy  till  after  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem by  the  Chaldeans,  which  took  place  A.  M.  8416 ; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  about  two  years  after  he  died  in 
Egypt. 

The  circumstances  of  his  death  are  related  as  follows : 
After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  Nebuchadnezzar  having 
made  Gedaliah  governor  of  Judea,  the  fractious  Jews  rose 
up  against- him,  and  put  him  to  death;  they  then  escaped  to 
Tahpanhes  in  Egypt,  carrying  Jeremiah  with  them  ;  who, 
continuing  to  testify  against  their  wickedness  and  idolatry,  at 
length  fell, a  victim  to  his  faithfulness:  they  filled  up  the 
measure  of  their  iniquity,  as  tradition  reports,  by  stoning 
the  prophet  to  death.  God  marked  this  murderous  outrage 
by  his  peculiar  displeasure ;  for  in  a  few  years  after  they 
were  almost  all  miserably  destroyed  by  the  Chaldean  armies 
which  had  invaded  Egypt ;  and  even  this  destruction  had 
been  foretold  by  the  prophet  himself.  (Chap.  44th  :)  "  They 
were  consumed  by  the  sword  and  by  the  famine  until  there 
was  an  end  of  them,  a  small  remnant  only  escaping."  It 
appears  he  discharged  the  duties  of  the  prophetic  office 
npward  of  forty  years.     As  a  writer,  Jeremiah  is  by  no 


JEREMIAH.  87 

means  wanting,  either  in  elegance  or  sublimity ;  altliongh, 
generally  speaking,  inferior  to  Isaiah  in  both. 

St.  Jerome  has  objected  to  him  a  certain  rusticity  in  his 
diction ;  others  alloAV  not  the  smallest  trace  of  it.  His 
thoughts,  indeed,  are  somewhat  less  elevated,  and  he  is  com- 
monly more  large  and  diffuse  in  his  sentences ;  but  the 
reason  of  this  may  be,  that  he  is  mostly  taken  up  with  the 
gentler  passions  of  grief  and  pity^  for  the  expression  of  which 
he  has  a  peculiar  talent.  This  is  most  evident  in  the  Lam- 
entations, where  those  passions  altogether  predominate;  but 
it  is  often  visible  also  in  his  prophesies;  in  the  former 
part  of  his  book  more  especially,  which  is  principally  poet- 
ical. The  middle  parts  are  for  the  most  part  historical ; 
but  the  last  part,  consisting  of  six  chapters,  is  entirely  poet- 
ical, and  contains  several  oracles  distinctly  marked,  in  which 
this  prophet  falls  very  little  short  of  the  loftiest  stjde  of 
Isaiah. 

"  Never,"  it  has  been  said,  "  was  there  a  more  rich  and 
elegant  variety  of  beautiful  images  and  adjuncts  arranged 
together  within  so  small  a  compass,  nor  more  happily  chosen 
and  applied,  than  in  the  inimitable  poem  of  Lamentations. 
One  would  think  that  every  letter  was  written  with  a  tear ; 
every  word,  the  sound  of  a  breaking  heart :  that  the  author 
was  compacted  of  sorrows ;  disciplined  to  grief  from  his 
infancy;  one  who  never  breathed  but  in  sighs,  nor  spoke 
but  in  a  groan." 

The  attachment  of  Jeremiah  to  his  country  was  strong 
and  fervent;  he  foresaw  by  the  light  of  prophecy  the  ruin 
that  was  coming  upon  it.  He  might  have  made  terms  with 
the  enemy,  and  not  only  saved  his  life,  but  have  gained  ease 
and  plenty ;  but  he  chose  rather  to  continue  with  his  people, 
and  take  his  part  in  all  the  disasters  that  befell  them. 

We  can  not  too  much  admire  the  full  and  graceful  flow 
of  that  pathetic  eloquence  in  which  the  author  jDOurs  forth 
the  effusions  of  a  patriotic  heart,  and  piously  weeps  over 
the  ruins  of  his  venerable  country.  But  it  was  observed 
before  that  the  prophet's  peculiar  talent  lay  in  working  up 
and  expressing  the  passions  of  grief  and  inly,  and  unhappily 


88  EZEKIEL. 

for  liim  as  a  man  and  a  citizen,  he  met  with  a  subject  but 
too  well  calculated  to  give  his  genius  its  full  display.  Da- 
vid in  several  places  has  forcibly  depicted  the  sorrows  of  a 
heart  oppressed  with  penitential  sorrow ;  but  where,  in  a 
composition  of  such  length,  have  bodily  misery  and  mental 
agony  been  more  successfuU}^  painted  ?  All  the  expressions 
and  imao-es  of  sorrow  are  here  exhibited  in  various  combi- 
nations,  and  in  various  points  of  view.  Misery  has  no 
expression  that  the  author  of  the  Lamentations  has  not 
employed. 

Patriots!  you  who  tell  us  you  burn  for  your  country's 
welfare,  look  at  the  prophesies  and  history  of  this  extraor- 
dinary man ;  look  at  his  Lamentations ;  take  him  through 
his  life  to  his  death,  and  learn  from  him  what  true  patriotism 
means  !  The  man  who  watched,  prayed,  and  lived  for  the 
welfare  of  his  countrj^,  who  chose  to  share  her  adversities, 
her  sorrows,  her  wants,  her  af&ictions  and  disgrace,  where  he 
might  have  been  a  companion  of  princes,  and  have  sat  at 
the  table  of  kings ;  who  only  ceased  to  live  for  his  country 
when  he  ceased  to  breathe ; — that  was  a  patriot,  in  com- 
parison with  whom  almost  ail  others  are  obscured,  minished 
and  brought  low,  or  are  totally  annihilated  ! 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CIRCMSTAXCES  ATTENDING   HIS   PROPHETIC   CALL;   ARDOR  IN  ENTERING 
UPON   IT;    PECULIAR  QUALITIES  AS  A   WRITER;    CONSULTATION 
OF    RABBINS   CONCERNING  HIS   ADMISSION   INTO   THE 
SACRED  CANON. 

.ONCERNING  the  lives  and  deaths  of  many  of 
the  prophets,  sacred  history  gives  but  few  if  any 
particulars. 

Their  writings,  however,  are  sufficient  for  us 
to  discover  their  distinguishing  traits  of  charac- 
ter, and  leading  qualities  of  mind.     It  is  the  mind  religiously 


EZEKIEL,  89 

bent  upon  accomplishing  the  Divine  will  that  God  peculiarly 
regards,  and  every  where  honors,  and  this  is  manifest  in 
Ezekiel. 

This  prophet  was  the  son  of  Buzi ;  of  the  sacerdotal  race, 
as  he  himself  tells  us,  and  was  born  at  a  place  called 
Saresa. 

He  was  carried  captive  by  Nebuchadnezzar  into  Babylon, 
with  Jeconiah,  king  of  Judah,  and  three  thousand  other 
captives  of  the  principal  inhabitants,  and  was  sent  into  Meso- 
potamia, where  he  received  the  prophetic  gift;  which  is 
supposed,  from  an  obscure  expression  in  his  prophesies,  to 
have  taken  place  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age. 

He  had  then  been  in  captivity  five  years,  comforting  his 
companions  in  tribulation,  rendering  their  captivity  lighter, 
by  the  most  positive  promises  of  their  restoration  to  their 
own  land,  the  re-building  of  the  temple,  and  the  reestablish- 
ment  of  the  Divine  worship,  all  their  enemies  being  jQnally 
destroyed. 

At  the  time  he  received  the  Divine  commission  to  declare 
God's  counsel  to  the  rebellious  house  of  Israel,  he  also 
obtained  the  gracious  assurance  that  God  would  furnish  him 
with  all  needful  armor  for  the  great  work.  He  seems  to 
have  joyously  entered  upon  his  calling,  using  expressions 
that  indicate  such  heavenly  ardor  of  mind  as  almost  con- 
strained him  to  fly  to  the  place  where  the  Lord  commanded 
him  to  go.  The  promptitude  and  impetuosity  of  his  spirit 
seemed  to  furnish  him  with  wings  for  the  occasion. 

He  continued  to  prophesy  about  twenty -two  years,  from 
A.  M.  3409  to  A.  M.  3430,  which  answers  to  the  fourteenth 
year  after  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

Ezekiel,  as  a  writer,  is  inferior  to  Jeremiah  in  elegance^  but 
is  equal  to  Isaiah  in  suhlimiti/,  though  in  a  different  species 
of  tlie  sublime.  He  is  bold,  vehement,  tragical,  and  deals  very 
much  in  amiMjication.  His  sentiments  are  hfty,  animated, 
jyolgnant,  and  full  of  indignation.  His  images  are  fertile  and 
raagnijicent.  His  diction  is  grand,  weighty,  austere,  rough,  and 
sometimes  uncultivated.  He  abounds  in  repetitions,  not  for 
the  sake  of  beauty  and  grace,  but  from  vehemence  and  indig 


90  EZEKIEL. 

nation.  Whatever  his  subject  be,  he  keeps  it  always  in  his 
eye,  without  the  least  deviation,  and  is  so  much  taken  up 
with  it  that  he  has  scarcely  any  regard  to  order  or  connec- 
tion. In  other  things  he  may  be  perhaps  exceeded  by  the 
other  prophets,  but  in  that  species  for  which  he  was  particu- 
larl}^  turned,  that  is,  force^  impetuosity^  weight  and  grandeur^ 
no  Avriter  ever  equaled  him. 

That  he  is  an  obscure  writer,  all  have  allowed  who  have 
attempted  to  explain  his  prophesies  ;  yet  his  obscurity  arises 
more  from  his  subjects,  than  his  diction. 

The  Jews  considered  him  inexplicable. 

There  is  a  tradition  that  the  rabbins  held  a  consultation 
whether  they  should  admit  Ezekiel  into  the  sacred  canon. 
It  was  likely  to  be  carried  in  the  negative,  when  Eabbi  An- 
anias rose  up  and  said  he  would  undertake  to  remove  every 
difficulty  from  the  account  of  Jehovah's  chariot,  (chap.  1st,) 
which  is  confessedly  the  most  difficult  part  in  the  whole 
book.  His  proposal  was  received ;  and  to  assist  him  in  his 
work,  and  that  he  might  complete  it  to  his  credit,  they  fur- 
nished him  with  three  hundred  barrels  of  oil  to  lio-ht  his 
lamp  during  the  time  he  might  be  employed  in  the  study 
of  this  part  of  his  subject!  This  extravagant  grant  proved 
at  once  the  conviction  the  rabbins  had  of  the  difficulty 
of  the  work ;  and  it  is  not  even  intimated  that  the  Eabbi 
succeeded  in  any  tolerable  degree,  if,  indeed,  he  undertook 
the  task  ;  and  they  believe  to  this  hour  the  chariot  mentioned 
in  chapter  1st,  and  the  account  of  the  temple  described  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  book  have  not  been  explained. 

A  generally  acknowledged  character  of  Ezekiel  is,  that  he 
minutely  distinguishes  every  thing  in  its  smallest  pai'ts. 
What  the  more  ancient  prophets  simply  alluded  to,  and 
briefly  explained,  he  unfolds  and  explains  formally,  repre- 
senting it  from  all  possible  sides. 

Another  character,  and  a  principal  one,  which  distinguishes 
his  oracle  is,  that  no  other  prophet  has  given  so  free  a  course 
to  his  imagination.  Almost  every  thing  is  dressed  in  sym- 
bolical actions,  in  fables,  narrations,  allegories,  or  in  the  still 
higher  poetry  of  visions. 


DANIEL.  91 

If  the  dress  of  vision  fitted  any  propliet,  it  was  certainly 
Ezekiel:  he  was  even  naturally  led  to  it  by  his  situation, 
and  by  the  subjects  he  was  to  represent. 

He  uses  all  sorts  of  prophetical  poetry  to  appear  always  great 
and  magnificent;  and  it  can  not  be  denied  that  he  has  given 
all  kinds,  excellent  pieces,  both  in  design  and  execution. 
Particularly,  he  is  so  used  to  ecstacies  and  visions  that  he 
adopts  the  language  proper  to  these,  where  he  has  no  visions 
to  describe. 

A  judicious  critic,  who  but  indirectly  admits  the  proph- 
et's inspiration,  says  of  him,  Ezekiel  is  a  great  poet,  full  of 
originality;  and  whoever  censures  him  as  if  he  were  only 
an  imitator  of  the  old  prophets,  can  never  have  felt  his  power. 

Those  are  great,  Ezekiel  is  also  great;  those  in  their 
manner,  Ezekiel  in  his. 

How  different  soever  the  species  of  composition  are  which 
he  hazards,  they  are  all  worked  out  in  the  same  general 
form.  What  he  represents  in  one  image,  picture,  or  vision; 
in  allegory,  parable,  or  narration,  is  explained  in  a  short 
speech,  which  God,  who  is  at  his  right  hand,  enables  him 
to  pronounce. 

CHAPTER  XV. 
§iXViitL 

CAMIED  CAPTIVE  TO  BABYLON;  EARLY  EDUCATION  FOR  THE  KING'S  COURT; 
IIs^CREASING  FAVOR  THERE;    INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  DREAM,  AND 
CONSEQUENT  PROMOTION;    HIS  ARREST  BY  ENVIOUS  MEN,  WHO 
CAST  HLM  INTO  A  DEN  OF  LIONS;    TRIUMPHANT  DELIV- 
ERANCE ;    HIS  PROBABLE  PLACE  OF  DEATH. 

■^ff^^    N  THE  fourth  year  of  Jehoiakim,  king  of  Judah, 
Z  A.  M.  3397,  B.  C.  607,  Nebuchadnezzar  besieged 

.^1^^^  Jerusalem,  made  its  king  tributary,  and  carried 
away  a  number  of  captives.  Among  these  was 
Daniel,  then  in  his  youth,  destined  to  become  by 
his  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  future  events,  an  eminent  man 
in  Babylon. 


92  DANIEL. 

This  was  one  of  those  events  in  the  history  of  God's  prov- 
idential dealings  with  his  people,  that  seem  mysterious  for 
the  time,  but  are  eventually  made  to  subserve,  in  a  glorious 
manner,  the  ends  of  Divine  Providence,  and  in  such  a  manner 
as  fully  to  demonstrate  the  superior  wisdom  and  power  of 
the  Infinite. 

Daniel  seems  to  have  been  early  chosen  to  be  in  attendance 
at  the  king's  court,  and  consequently  an  education  suitable  to 
his  employment  was  appointed  to  him.  He  appears  to  have 
been  instructed  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Chaldeans,  which 
was  at  that  time  greatly  superior  to  the  learning  of  the  ancient 
Egyptians  ;  and  he  Avas  soon  distinguished  in  the  Babylonish 
court,  as  well  for  his  wisdom  and  strong  understanding  as  for 
his  deep  and  steady  piety.  A  commiendable  spirit  of  firmness 
and  true  nobleness  of  character,  is  manifest  on  our  first  intro- 
duction to  him. 

Having  been  carefully  reared  amid  Mosaic  institutions,  he 
regulated  his  conduct  by  them,  even  in  the  court  of  a  heathen 
king,  where,  too,  for  the  time,  he  stood  in  the  capacity  of 
slave. 

Though  ordered  to  be  fed  from  the  royal  table,  he  refused 
the  food,  because  the  Chaldeans  ate  of  meat  forbidden  by 
the  Mosaic  law ;  and  probably  even  that  which  might  be 
denominated  clean^  became  defiled  by  having  been  sacrificed 
to  idols  before  it  was  prepared  for  common  use.  At  his  earn- 
est request,  his  attending  ofiicer  permitted  him  a  vegetable 
diet,  which  proved  so  favorable,  as  to  lead  to  a  withdrawal 
of  the  king's  portion  entirely. 

While  he  was  enjoying  special  and  increasing  favor  with 
the  kincf,  a  circumstance  occurred,  which  at  first  threatened 
his  destruction,  but  finally  issued  in  the  increase  of  his  repu- 
tation and  celebrity. 

The  combined  wisdom  of  the  wisest  being  insufficient  to 
procure  the  interpretation  of  a  dream,  the  king  in  his  wrath 
sought  to  sweep  them  from  the  land.  Daniel,  though  num- 
bered with  them,  interposed  and  entreated  him  to  stay  yet  a 
little,  and  the  thing  should  be  made  known. 

Enlisting  his  three  companions  in  his  behalf,  they  besought 


DANIEL.  93 

the  God  of  Heaven,  with  strong  confidence,  till  they  obtained 
the  wished-for  revelation. 

With  devout  gratitude  to  Ilim  ^^luho  reveahth  secrets,^^  and 
the  prime  grace  of  the  christian  in  active  exercise, — humil- 
ity,,— he  entered  into  the  presence  of  the  troubled  monarch, 
and  unfolded  the  things  that  were  to  be.  This  obtained  for 
him  royal  promotion,  and  made  him  confidant  and  counselor 
of  the  king. 

Subsequent  interpretations  procured  for  him  additional 
emblems  of  magisterial  authority.  Called  to  trace  the  mys- 
terious writing  on  the  walls  of  the  kingly  palace,  he  fearlessly 
proclaimed  its  fearful  meaning, 

Bnvj/  was  stirred,  and  wicked  men  finding  no  blemish  in 
his  administration,  sought  to  make  his  faithfulness  to  God  a 
crime,  and  to  insure  his  speedy  and  certain  destruction,  cast 
him  at  once  into  a  den  of  raging  lions.  The  mighty  power 
of  faith  Avas  his,  and  He  who  ever  watches  over  his  faithful 
ones,  procured  deliverance  for  him  in  such  a  manner  as 
strikingly  demonstrated  the  power  of  the  Supreme  God,  and 
drew  from  idolatrous  man  an  acknowledgment  of  his  right 
to  eternal  dominion. 

The  reputation  of  Daniel,  even  in  his  life-time,  was  so 
great  that  it  became  a  proverb. 

"  Thou  art  wiser  than  Daniel,"  said  Ezekiel  ironically  to 
the  king  of  Tyre,  and  by  the  same  prophet  God  ranks  him 
among  the  most  holy  and  exemplary  of  men,  when  he  de- 
clares, speaking  relative  to  Jerusalem,  which  had  been  con- 
demned to  destruction :  "  Though  these  three  men,  Noah, 
Daniel,  and  Job,  were  in  it,  they  should  deliver  but  their  own 
lives  by  their  righteousness." 

It  is  very  probable  that  Daniel  did  not  return  at  the  general 
restoration  from  the  Babylonish  captivity.  At  that  time,  if 
alive,  he  must  have  been  an  old  man;  and  it  is  most  likely 
that  he  finished  his  days  in  Babylon,  though  some  Asiatic 
authors  hold  that  he  returned  to  Judea  with  Ezra,  came  back 
afterward  to  Persia,  and  died  in  the  city  of  Susa. 

The  Avritings  of  Daniel  are  simple,  yet  correct  and'  pure ; 
and  he  is  so  conscientious,  that  he  relates  the  very  words  of 


94  DANIEL. 

those  persons  whom  he  introduces  as  speaking.  The  rabbins 
have  endeavored  to  degrade  him,  and  have  placed  his  proph- 
ecies among  the  hagiographa^  books  which  they  consider  to 
possess  a  minor  degree  of  inspiration  ;  and  it  is  probable  that 
he  meets  with  this  treatment  from  them  because  his  proph- 
ecies are  proofs  too  evident  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  true 
Messiah,  and  that  he  came  at  the  very  time  that  Daniel  said 
the  Prince  Messiah  should  come. 

But  the  testimony  and  sayings  of  such  men  are  infinitely 
overpowered  by  the  testimony  of  Ezekiel,  which  has  been 
produced  above ;  and  the  testimony  of  our  Lord,  who  gives 
him  the  title  of  prophet^  without  the  slightest  intimation  that 
he  was  to  wear  this  title  with  abatement. 

As  prophesy  is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs  of  the  authen- 
ticity of  what  professes  to  be  a  Divine  revelation,  God  endued 
this  man  with  a  large  portion  of  His  Spirit,  so  that  he  clearly 
predicted  some  of  the  most  astonishing  political  occurrences 
and  changes  which  have  ever  taken  place  on  the  earth;  no 
less  than  the  rise,  distinguishing  characteristics,  and  termina- 
tion of  the  four  great  monarchies,  or  empires,  which  have  been 
so  celebrated  in  all  the  histories  of  the  world. 

Nor  did  the  prophetic  spirit  in  this  eminent  man  limit  his 
predictions  to  these  ;  but  showed  at  the  same  time  the  origin 
and  nature  of  that  fifili  monarchy,  which,  under  the  great 
King  of  kings,  should  be  administered  and  prevail  to  the 
■end  of  time. 

Josephus  says  of  Daniel,  "  that  God  bestowed  many  favors 
upon  him :  that  he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  the  most 
considerable  of  the  prophets ;  that  he  enjoyed  the  favor  of 
princes,  and  the  affection  of  the  people  during  his  life ;  and 
that  after  his  death,  his  memory  became  immortal." 

He  observes  also  that,  in  the  complexion  of  his  predic- 
tions, he  differs  widely  from  all  other  prophets ;  they  foretold 
scarcely  any  thing  but  disastrous  events ;  on  the  contrary,  he 
predicts  the  most  joyous  events,  and  fixes  the  times  of  accom- 
plishment with  more  circumstantial  precision  than  they  did. 
And  this  is  so  true,  that  we  can  not  help  thinking  that  God 
had  given  this  eminent  man  a  greater  degree  of  light  to  fix 


HO  SEA,  95 

the  times  when  his  predictions  should  issue,  than  He  had 
given  in  general  to  all  his  predecessors,  who  simply  declared 
the  mind  of  God  in  relation  to  things  future,  without  attempt- 
ing to  indicate  the  distance  of  time  in  which  they  should  be 
fulfilled. 

In  this  respect  the  prophesy  of  the  seventy  iveeJcs  of  Daniel 
exceeds  all  that  have  gone  before,  as  the  incidents  and  trans- 
actions relative  to  its  fulfillment  were  so  various,  and  yet  so 
fixed,  and  declared  six  hundred  years  before  the  time,  that 
when  the  time  came  in  which  they  were  predicted  to  take 
place,  they  were  eocpeded,  and  occurred  exactly  according  to 
the  j^rec/idzoTi,  and  the  expectations  founded  upon  it.  This 
prophet,  therefore,  far  from  occupying  a  lower  place  among 
divinely  inspired  men,  deserves  to  be  placed  in  the  front 
rank  with  all  those  who  have  been  most  distinguished  among 
the  men  who  have  partaken  most  largely  of  the  prophetic 
gift. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 


HIS  EARLY  HISTORY  SHROUDED  IN  UNCERTAINTY;    TfflE  EMBRACED  IN  HIS 
PROPHESY;    PAITHFULNESS  IN  DISPENSING  THE  LORD'S  MESSAGE. 

OSEA,  the  son  of  Beeri,  is  the  first  in  the  scale 
of  minor  prophets.     Concerning  his  origin  and 
Q    future  life,  various  opinions  exist. 

Some  say  he  was  of  the  tOAvn  of  Belemoth,  in 
the  tribe  of  Issachar ;  which  is  no  other,  in  all 
probability,  than  Beelmeon,  toward  Esdraelon,  in  this  tribe. 

Others  say  that  Bura  was  his  father,  who  is  mentioned  in 
the  Chronicles,  and  was  prince  of  the  tribe  of  Eeuben  at  the 
time  when  Tiglath-pileser  carried  some  of  the  tribes  of  Israel 
into  captivity. 

But  if  it  be  so,  Hosea  must  be  said  to  be  of  the  tribe  of 
Reuben ;  and  a  native  of  Beelmeon,  beyond  Jordan.     This 


96  HOSEA. 

prophet  lived  in  the  kingdom  of  Samaria,  and  his  prophesies 
for  the  most  part  have  a  view  to  this  state,  though  there  are 
hkewise  some  particular  things  which  concern  the  kingdom 
of  Judah. 

In  the  introduction  to  his  prophesy,  it  is  said  he  prophe- 
sied under  the  kings  of  Judah,  from  Uzziah  to  Hezekiah, 
and  under  Jereboam,  king  of  Israel.  This  embraces  a  period 
of  one  hundred  and  twelve  years.  Add  to  this  twenty  or 
twenty-five  years  which  might  have  been  the  age  of  Ilosea, 
when  he  began  to  prophesy,  and  this  will  make  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  or  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years. 

In  the  whole  collection  of  his  writings,  we  find  nothing 
which  proves  that  he  prophesied  so  long.  And,  besides,  why 
should  his  prophesies  be  dated  in  the  title  by  the  reigns  of 
the  kings  of  Judah,  when  he  did  not  live  under  their  domin- 
ion? It  is  therefore  probable  this  title  is  the  work  of  some 
ancient  transcriber,  rather  than  that  of  Ilosea;  and  that  the 
true  beginning  of  this  prophet's  work  is  at  the  words:  "The 
beginning  of  the  word  of  the  Lord  b}^  Ilosea."  It  is  probable 
he  began  about  the  end  of  Jereboam's  reigu,  who  was  the 
second  king  of  Israel  of  this  name. 

It  is,  after  all,  the  most  important  consideration,  that  he 
was  faithful  to  the  high  trust  imposed  upon  him.  He  in- 
veighed strongly  against  the  idolatrous  practices  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  and  reflected  with  equal  severity  upon  the 
irregularities  which  reigned  in  Judah. 

He  declared  without  reserve  the  threatenings  of  God's 
vengeance  upon  an  apostate  people,  and  spoke  His  gracious 
promises  to  the  penitent. 

The  stylf  of  Hosea  is  obscure,  and  his  expressions  often 
dubious  and  perplexed. 

The  things  whereof  he  speaks  contribute  further  to  his 
obscurity,  by  reason  of  their  distance,  and  our  ignorance  of 
the  history  of  those  times. 

He  is  concise,  sententious,  and  abrupt. 

His  transitions  from  wrathful  denunciations  to  promises  ot 
abundant  merc}^,  are  rapid  and  unexpected. 

He  abounds  with  short  and  lively  comparisons  ;  and,  like 


JOEL.  97 

the  best  Greek  and  Eoman  writers,  often  omits  the  particle 
of  similitude.  These  comparisons  he  sometimes  accumulates 
in  the  spirit  of  that  poetry  which  is  most  admired. 

He  has  often  a  great  force  of  expression, — is  sometimes 
highly  animated.  Many  beautiful  passages  occur  in  this 
prophet,  as  in  the  similes  throughout ;  in  the  allegories ;  the 
pathos,  and  figures. 

Instructive,  convincing,  awakening,  and  yet  consolatory, 
are  the  words  of  this  prophesy. 

There  are  some  parts  of  it  truly  sublime, — parts  where 
Isaiah,  the  master  prophet,  alone,  could  have  done  better. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

fad. 

OPIMONS  OF  CRITICS  IN  RESPECT  TO  THE  TIME  HE  BEGAN  TO  PROPHESY; 
GBSCmiITT  RESTING  UPON  IT;   OPINION  OF  THE  HEBREWS;   CHAR- 
ACTER OF  PROPHESY;    STRIKING  SIMILARITY  TO  EZEKIEL. 

ij^OEL,  the  son  of  Pethuel,  the  second  of  the  twelve 
minor  prophets,  was,  as  is  said,  of  the  tribe  of 
Reuben,  and  city  of  Bethoran  ;  or  rather  Betharan, 
for  the  former  was  on  this  side  Jordan,  in  the 
tribe  of  Ephraim,  and  the  latter  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  in  the  tribe  of  Reuben. 

Joel  prophesied  in  the  kingdom  of  Judah ;  and  it  is  the 
opinion  of  some  critics,  that  he  did  not  appear  there  till  after 
the  removal  of  the  ten  tribes  and  the  destruction  of  the 
kingdom  of  Israel.  But  the  year  wherein  he  began  to  proph- 
esy, or  the  year  in  which  he  died,  is  not  distinctly  known. 

He  speaks  of  a  great  famine,  and  an  inundation  of  locusts 
which  ravaged  Judea ;  but  as  these  are  evils  not  uncommon 
in  that  country,  and  all  sorts  of  events  have  not  been  regis- 
tered in  history,  we  can  infer  nothing  from  thence  toward 
fixing  the  particular  period  of  time  when  he  entered  upon 
his  sacred  ofiice. 

1 


98  JOEL. 

Many  writers,  both  ancient  and  modern,  believe  Joel  to 
have  been  contemporarj  with  Hosea,  according  to  a  rule  that 
has  been  laid  down,  that  when  there  is  no  certain  proof  of 
the  time  wherein  any  prophet  lived,  we  are  to  be  directed  in 
our  conjectures  by  the  time  of  the  preceding  prophet,  whose 
epoch  is  better  known.  This  rule,  however,  is  not  alwaj'S 
certain,  and  should  not  hinder  us  from  following  another 
system,  if  we  have  good  reason  for  doing  so.  The  Hebrews 
maintain  that  Joel  prophesied  under  Manasseh ;  and  as  col- 
lateral circumstances  seem  to  preponderate  in  favor  of  this 
hypothesis,  it  has  been  accordingly  followed. 

Joel  commences  his  prophesy  very  abruptly ;  and  before 
he  proposes  his  subject,  excites  attention  and  alarm  by  inti- 
mating that  he  is  about  to  announce  disastrous  events,  such 
as  the  oldest  man  among  them  has  never  seen,  nor  any  of 
them  learn  from  the  histories  of  ancient  times.  To  heighten 
the  effect,  he  conceals  the  subject,  and  informs  them  that  it  is 
such  as  should  be  handed  down  from  father  to  son  through 
all  generations. 

He  reiterates  exhortations  to  repentance,  that  the  Divine 
judgments  may  be  averted.  He  speaks  of  things  relating  to 
the  new  covenant,  foretells  a  "teacher  of  righteousness,"  and 
the  cojDious  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  found  its  ful- 
fillment on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

He  shows  a  bright  day  for  the  christian  church.  It  is  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  and  must  be  accomplished.  The  mighty 
and  rapid  spread  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ  in  the  present  day^ 
by  means  of  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  almost  all 
the  regular  languages  of  the  world,  and  the  sending  mission- 
aries to  all  nations,  who  preach  the  Gospel  in  those  tongues, 
are  further  proofs  that  the  great  promise  is  in  the  fullest  pro- 
gress to  be  speedily  fulfilled,  even  in  the  utmost  sense  of  the 
words. 

The  style  of  Joel  differs  much  from  that  of  Hosea,  but 
though  of  a  different  kind,  is  equally  poetical.  It  is  elegant, 
perspicuous,  clear,  diffusive,  and  flowing;  and  at  the  same 
time,  very  sublime,  nervous,  and  animated.  He  displays  the 
whole  power  of  poetic  description  in  the  first  and  second 


AMOS.  99 

chapters;  and  at  the  same  time,  his  fo.adness  for  metaphors, 
comparisons  and  allegories;  nor  is  the  connection  of  his 
subjects  less  remarkable  than  the  graces  of  his  diction.  It 
is  not  to  be  denied  that  in  some  places  he  is  very  obscure  ; 
which  every  attentive  reader  will  perceive,  especially  in  the 
end  of  the  prophecy. 

The  two  first  chapters  are  inimitably  beautiful;  and  the 
language,  in  force,  and  often  in  sound,  well  adapted  to  the 
subject. 

This  prophet  who  has  many  things  similar  to  Ezekiel,  ends 
his  prophecy  in  nearly  the  same  way  ;  both  pointing  out  the 
continued  indwelling  of  Christ  among  his  people. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

CALLED  FROJI  THE  HUMBLE  POSITION  OF   "HERUSilAX"  TO  BE  THE  LORD'S 

MESSENGER;  HIS  TRDIE  MISSION  TO  ISRAEL;  HIS  ACCUSATION  BEFORE 

THE  KING ;  VARIOUS  OPINIONS  IN  REGARD  TO  HIS  DEATH. 

^^^^  OW  widely  different  the  economy  of  God  from 
that  of  man.  The  latter,  when  desirous  of 
special  commissioners  to  represent  their  inter- 


mmi¥ 


||!cj^v,j;|;|L  ests,  look  only  to  the  great  and  talented ;  but 
God  chooses  oftener  from  the  lowest  ranks  of 
life  his  extraordinary  messengers  to  proclaim  His  eternal 
counsels. 

At  times  he  uses  the  eloquence  of  some,  yet  oftener  makes 
the  humble  eloquent,  to  subserve  his  great  purposes.  He 
always  chooses  the  proper  interpreters  of  His  will,  wherever 
they  may  be. 

The  same  he9,venly  spirit  which  inspired  Isaiah  and  Daniel 
in  the  palace,  inspired  David  and  Amos  in  their  shepherd's 
tents. 

Amos,  the  third  of  the  minor  prophets,  was  a  herdsman, 
and  "  gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit,"  which  he  collected  proba- 
bly for  his  own  subsistence.     He  was  of  the  little  town  of 


100  AMOS. 

Tekoa,  it  is  said,  in  the  tribe  of  Judali,  about  four  leagues 
southward  of  Jerusalem.  There  is  no  good  proof,  however, 
that  he  was  a  native  of  this  place ;  but  only  that  he  retired 
thither  when  he  was  driven  from  Bethel,  Avhich  was  in  the 
kingdom  of  the  ten  tribes.  It  is  very  probable  that  he  was 
born  within  the  territories  of  Israel,  and  that  his  mission 
was  directed  principally  to  this  kingdom. 

He  began  to  prophesy  the  second  year  before  the  earth- 
(j^uake,  which  happened  in  the  reign  of  King  Yizziah ;  and 
which  most  of  the  ancient  and  modern  commentators  refer 
to  this  prince's  usurpation  of  the  priest's  ofi&ce,  when  he 
attempted  to  offer  incense  to  the  Lord. 

The  first  of  his  promises,  in  the  order  of  time,  are  those 
of  the  seventh  chapter.  The  others  he  pronounced  in  the 
town  of  Tekoa,  whither  he  retired. 

He  foretold  the  misfortunes  into  which  the  kingdom  of 
Israel  should  fall  after  the  death  of  Jereboam  the  second, 
who  was  then  living. 

He  foretold  the  death  of  King  Zeckariah ;  the  invasion 
of  the  lands  belonging  to  Israel,  by  Pul  and  Tiglath-pileser, 
kings  of  Assyria ;  and  speaks  of  the  captivity  of  the  ten 
tribes,  and  of  their  return  into  their  own  country.  He 
makes  sharp  invectives  against  the  sins  of  Israel;  against 
their  effeminacy  and  avarice,  their  harshness  to  the  poor,  the 
splendor  of  their  buildings,  and  the  delicacy  of  their  tables. 

Bethel,  Dan,  Gilgal  and  Beersheba  were  then  the  famous 
pilgrimages  of  the  country.  Severely  did  he  reprove  them 
for  leaving  the  God  of  Heaven  for  these  unavailable  exer- 
tions and  idolatrous  practices. 

At  a  time  when  he  was  prophesying  in  Bethel  where  the 
golden  calves  were,  the  high  priest  brought  an  accusation 
against  him  before  the  king,  declaring  him  to  be  concerned 
in  a  conspiracy  against  the  government.  The  disturbed 
monarch  issued  his  royal  command,  and  bade  the  prophet 
of  God  flee  from  the  land,  and  never  more  let  his  voice  be 
heard  in  his  kingly  court.  E'en  then  the  fearless  messenger 
of  the  Most  High  opened  his  lips  and  pronounced  the 
dreadful,  yet  righteous  doom  of  the  king. 


AMOS.  101 

He  then  went  to  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  to  the  retirement 
of  Tekoa.  He  complains  in  manj  places  of  the  violence 
offered  him  bj  endeavoring  to  oblige  him  to  silence,  and 
bitterly  exclaims  against  the  disorders  of  Israel. 

The  time  and  manner  of  his  death  are  not  known.  Some 
old  authors  relate  that  Amaziah,  priest  of  Bethel,  who 
informed  against  him  to  the  king,  provoked  by  his  dis- 
courses, had  his  teeth  broken  in  order  to  silence  him.  Others 
say  that  Hosea.  or  Uzziah,  the  son  of  Amaziah,  struck  him 
with  a  stake  upon  his  temples,  and  knocked  him  down^  and 
almost  killed  him ;  that  in  this  condition  he  was  carried  to 
Tekoa,  where  he  died,  and  was  buried  with  his  fathers.  On 
the  contrary,  it  is  the  opinion  of  others,  that  he  prophesied  a 
long  time  after  the  adventure  he  had  with  Amaziah :  and 
the  prophet  taking  no  notice  of  the  ill  treatment  which  he  is 
said  to  have  received  from  Uzziah,  his  silence  is  no  argument 
that  he  suffered  nothing  from  him. 

Some  writers  represent  this  prophet  as  entirely  rude,  void 
of  eloquence,  and  wanting  in  all  the  embellishments  of  style; 
whereas,  any  one  who  reads  him  with  due  attention  will  find 
him,  though  a  herdsman,  not  a  whit  behind  the  very  chiefest- 
prophets  ;  almost  equal  to  the  greatest  in  the  loftiness  of  his 
sentiments,  and  not  inferior  to  any  in  the  splendor  of  his 
diction,  and  the  elegance  of  his  composition. 

As  every  one  chooses  to  speak  of  his  own  art,  Amos 
generally  makes  use  of  comparisons  taken  from  the  country 
life  wherein  he  had  been  brought  up.  He  borrows  many 
images  from  the  scenes  in  which  he  was  engaged ;  but  he 
introduces  them  with  skill,  and  gives  them  tone  and  dignity 
by  eloquence  and  grandeur  of  his  manner.  We  shall  find 
in  him  many  affecting  and  pathetic,  many  eloquent  and 
sublime  passages. 

No  prophet  has  more  magnificently  described  the  Deity, 
or  more  gravely  rebuked  theluxuiious,  or  reproved  injustice 
and  oppression  with  greater  warmth,  and  a  more  generous 
indignation. 

He  is  a  prophet  on  whose  model  a  preacher  may  safely 
form  his  style  and  manner  in  luxurious  and  profligate  times. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

FACTS  OF  HIS  mOPHECY  EEVEAL  THE  PROBABLE  TIME  WHEN  HE  EXER- 
CISED THE  OFFICE;  PROOF  OF  HIS  DIVINE  COIIMISSION. 

HO  was  this  prophet?  ichere  born?  of  loliai 
country  f  at  what  ^me  did  he  prophesy?  who 
were  his  parents  ?  when  and  where  did  he 
die?  are  questions  which  have  been  asked 
from  the  remotest  antiquity;  and  which,  to 
this  day,  have  recived  no  answer  worthy  of  recording.  There 
is  a  multitude  of  opinions  concerning  these  points ;  and  their 
multitude  and  discrepancy  are  the  strongest  proofs  of  their 
uncertainty. 

All  that  seems  probable  is,  that,  as  he  prophesied  concern- 
ing the  destruction  of  Edom,  he  flourished  a  little  before  or 
a  little  after,  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
which  happened  about  five  hundred  and  eighty-eight  years 
before  Christ ;  and  the  destruction  of  Idumea  by  the  same 
monarch,  which  took  place  a  short  time  after,  probably  be- 
tween 688  B.  C,  and  575  B.  C,  in  the  interval'of  the  thirteen 
years  which  Nebuchadnezzar  employed  in  the  siege  of  Tyre, 
which  he  undertook  immediately  after  the  capture  of  Jeru- 
salem. 

Obadiah  foretells  the  subduction  of  the  Idumeans  by  the 
Chaldeans,  and  finally  by  the  Jews,  whom  they  had  used 
most  cruelly,  when  brought  low  by  other  enemies.  These 
prophecies  have  been  literally  fulfilled ;  for  the  Idumeans,  as 
a  nation,  are  totally  extinct. 

Obadiah,  like  the  other  prophets,  was  directed  in  the  words 
he  spoke,  by  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  and  so  proportioned  are 
they  to  the  nature  of  things  treated  of,  that  even  they  who 
accuse  them  of  rusticity  and  impoliteness  in  their  way  of  wri- 
ting, could  not  choose  a  style   more  suitable,  were  they  to 


JONAH.  103 

have  spoken  on  the  same  subject,  to  the  same  persons,  and 
in  the  same  circumstances. 

That  this  prophet  was  one  in  the  succession  of  divinely 
inspired  men,  it  is  ours  to  believe. 

His  prophesy  is  brief,  but  it,  nevertheless,  secured  the 
Divine  intention. 

God  spoke  through  hira,  and  his  words  were  therefore 
essentially  important  to  those  unto  whom  he  was  sent. 


CHAPTER   XX. 


0ital]. 


CALL  TO  GO  TO  THE  NIXEVITES;  REFUSES  TO  C03IPLY;  CAST  INTO  THE  SEA; 

PINALLT  DELIVERED;  OBEYS  THE  SECOxND  CALL;  ANGER  AT  THE 

LORD'S  MERCY. 

'^:^ojPlfo\ONAH,  the  son  of  Amittai,  the  fifth  of  the  minor 
-^?A^|!j\y  prophets,  was  a  Gallilean,  a  native  of  Gath-hepher, 
which  is  believed  to  be  the  same  as  Jotapata,  cele- 
brated for  the  siege  which  Joseph  us  the  historian, 
there  maintained  against  the  Roman  army,  a  little 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

There  are  many  legends  and  fabulous  relations  connected 
with  the  histor}'-  of  this  prophet. 

Some  Rabbins  are  of  opinion  that  he  was  the  son  of  the 
widow  of  Sarepta,  who  was  restored  to  life  by  Elijah.  But 
the  incidents  furnished  us  by  the  Bible  are  sufficient,  and 
alone  reliable. 

As  a  prophet  he  probably  received  but  this  one  mission 
to  "  go  to  the  Ninevites." 

When  the  word  of  the  Lord  first  sounded  in  his  ear, 
"Arise  and  go,"  he  manifested  no  disposition  to  regard  the 
Divine  authority. 

Foreseeing  the  difficulty  and  danger  of  the  work,  he  sought 
to  avoid  it  by  the  vain  attempt  to  flee  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  perhaps  thinking  when  he  was  once  from  the  land. 


104  JONAH. 

another  might  be  appointed  in  his  stead  to  proclaim  the 
unwelcome  m.essage. 

Ah,  inconsiderate  man!  knowest  not  "the  eyes  of  the 
Lord  are  in  every  place,  beholding  the  evil  and  the  good?" 

He  persisted  in  his  rash  purpose,  and  embarked  at  Joppa, 
but  the  eye  of  Omniscience  was  upon  him  there,  and  the 
power  of  Omnipotence  stood  pledged  to  arrest  him.  "Who 
that  ever  turned  from  the  plainly  revealed  intimations  of 
Providence  to  his  own  way,  but  found  it  a  rough  and  thorny 
path,  hedged  up  with  insurmountable  difficulties  ? 

Jonah  was  not  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  consequently  not 
one  of  safety.  Once  upon  the  sea,  the  Lord  sent  forth  a 
violent  storm,  which  threatened  to  bring  them  all  to  a  watery 
grave.  The  frightened  sailors,  finding  no  relief  from  their 
gods,  aroused  the  sleeping  prophet,  and  bade  him  use  his 
influence  in  discovering  and  averting  danger,  in  which  they 
were  all  equally  involved.  The  final  decision  to  cast  lots 
detected  the  guilty  one. 

In  answer  to  their  inquiries,  Jonah,  for  once,  was  faithful. 
He  gave  an  honest  testimony  concerning  the  God  he  served, 
which  placed  him  before  the  eyes  of  the  sailors  as  infinitely 
higher  than  the  objects  of  their  adoration ;  for  the  God  of 
Jonah  was  the  God  of  Heaven,  who  made  the  sea  and  the 
dry  land,  and  governed  both.  He  also  honestly  told  them 
that  he  was  fleeing  from  the  presence  of  this  God,  whose 
honorable  call  he  had  refused  to  obey. 

His  deep  compunctions  of  conscience  constrained  him  to 
an  honest  ?vowal  of  sin,  and  a  justification  of  the  displeasure 
which  God  had  now  manifested.  Fully  sensible  that  he  was 
the  procuring  cause  of  the  danger,  he  instructed  them  to 
cast  him  into  the  deep.  When  this  was  done  the  raging  sea 
became  calm.  Then  the  sailors  "  offered  a  sacrifice ;"  the 
first,  perhaps,  ever  ofiered  on  board  a  vessel  since  the  ark 
floated  on  the  waters  of  the  great  deluge ;  and  it  is  quite 
probable  these  heathen,  witnessing  what  was  done,  became 
sincere  converts  to  the  true  God. 

So  true  is  it,  that  "  God  will  cause  the  wrath  of  man  to 
praise  him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  he  will  restrain." 


JONAH.  105 

The  dealings  of  the  L.rd  with  Jonah  in  the  waters  brought 
him  to  reflection,  so  that  when  the  command  came  the  second 
time  to  "  go  unto  Ninevah,"  he  was  prepared  by  what  he 
had  seen  and  felt  of  the  justice  and  mercy  of  the  Lord  to 
obey.  He  accordingly  "arose  and  went,"  and  proclaimed 
the  message  he  was  commissioned  to  deliver.  Penitence  so 
deep  and  effectual  was  felt  by  the  people,  that  God  reversed 
the  sentence,  and  saved  them. 

What  then  thought  the  prophet? 

His  hasty  and  inconsiderate  spirit  was  vexed  that  his 
prediction  was  not  fulfilled. 

He  had  more  respect  to  his  high  sense  of  his  own  honor 
than  he  had  of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  the  Lord.  He 
appeared  to  care  little  whether  six  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  persons  were  destroyed  or  not,  so  he  might  not 
pass  for  a  deceiver,  or  one  that  denounced  a  falsity. 

His  proud  heart  raised  to  the  God  of  Heaven  an  impious 
prayer,  to  take  his  life  from  him,  that  he  might  be  spared  the 
mortification  and  disgrace  of  being  thought  a  false  prophet. 

Thoughtless  man !  slow  to  learn  the  lessons  of  heavenly 
wisdom. 

Some  have  thought  the  writings  of  Jonah  a  mere  allegory ; 
others  that  it  is  a  parable,  intending  to  point  out  God's  jus- 
tice and  mercy,  and  how  prevalent  repentance  is  to  turn 
aside  the  threatened  stroke  of  Divine  wrath. 

But  the  appeal  made  to  the  main  facts  of  this  history  by 
our  Lord,  proves  that  we  are  to  admit  of  no  allegoiical 
exposition  of  these  facts. 

1.  There  was  such  a  person  as  Jonah. 

2.  That  he  was  swallowed  by  a  sea  monster,  in  whose 
belly  he  was  miraculously  preserved  three  days  and  three 
lughts. 

3.  This  same  prophet  preached  to  the  Ninevites ;  and 
they  repented,  and  turned  from  their  sins  under  his  ministry. 

This  testimony  puts  an  end  to  all  mythological,  allegorical 
and  hypothetical  interpretations  of  these  great  facts. 

It  has  been  said,  that  God  left  the  example  of  Jonah 
on  record,  to  show  that  an  inconsiderate  man  is  not  fit  to  be 


106  MICAH. 

employed  in  his  work ;  and  he  chose  this  one  example  that 
it  might  serve  as  an  endless  warning  to  his  church  to  employ 
no  man  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  that  is  not  scripturally 
acquainted  with  God's  justice  and  mercy. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


it 


BREVITY  OP  WRITINGS   ARISING   FROII   HIS   CONSTANT   ENGAGEMENT   IN 

EXHORTING  PUBLICLY;  SUBLIMITY  OF  HIS  PASSAGES;  THE  LORD'S 

CONTROVERSY. 

"ICAH,  the  Morasthite,  or  of  Moresa,  a  village 
near  the  city  Eleutheropolis,  in  the  southern 
part  of  Judah,  is  the  sixth  in  order  of  the 
twelve  minor  prophets.  He  prophesied  under 
Jotham,  Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah,  kings  of  Judah, 
for  about  fifty  years.  Notwithstanding  the  length  of  time  he 
exercised  this  office,  no  more  of  his  prophesies  have  reached 
posterity  than  what  are  contained  in  his  book,  nor  is  there 
anj^  evidence  that  any  more  was  written.  His  time  appears 
to  have  been  spent  chiefly  in  preaching  and  exhorting ;  and 
he  was  directed  to  write  those  parts  only  that  v/ere  calculated 
to  profit  succeeding  generations. 

It  has  been  observed  that  Micah  was  of  the  kingdom  of 
Judah,  as  he  only  makes  mention  of  kings  who  reigned  over 
that  country. 

It  is  supposed  that  he  prophesied  farther  on  in  the  reign 
of  Ilezekiah  than  Hosea  did ;  although  chapter  fifth  of  his 
book  was  written  before  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  which 
happened  in  the  sixth  year  of  this  king.  It  is  plain,  however, 
from  his  writings,  that  he  was  sent  both  to  Israel  and  Judah. 
The  prophesy  of  Micah  contains  but  seven  chapters. 
He  foretells  the  calamities  of  Samaria,  which  was  taken  by 
Shalmaneser,  and  reduced  to  a  heap  of  stones.  Afterward 
he  prophesies  against  Judah.    and  declares  the  troubles  that 


MICAH.  107 

Sennacherib  should  bring  upon  it,  under  the  reign  of  Heze- 
kiah.  He  speaks  the  captivity  of  the  ten  tribes,  and  their 
return  into  their  own  country.  The  third  chapter  contains  a 
pathetic  invective  against  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Jacob, 
and  the  judges  of  the  house  of  Israel;  which  seems  leveled 
against  the  chief  of  the  kingdom  of  the  former,  the  judges, 
the  magistrates,  the  priests,  the  false  prophets,  &c. 

He  upbraids  them  with  their  avarice,  their  injustice  and 
falsehood ;  and  tells  them  they  will  be  the  occasion  of  Jeru- 
salem being  reduced  to  a  "  heap  of  rubbish,"  and  the  moun- 
tain of  the  temple  as  a  forest. 

We  are  told  this  prophecy  was  pronounced  in  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah ;  and  that  it  saved  Jeremiah  from  death. 

After  these  terrible  denunciations,  Micah  speaks  of  the 
reign  of  the  Messiah,  and  of  the  establishment  of  the  chris- 
tian church.  And  as  the  peaceable  times  which  succeeded 
the  return  from  the  Babylonish  captivity,  and  which  were  a 
figure  of  the  reign  of  Christ,  were  disturbed  by  a  tempest  of 
sliort  continuance,  he  foretold  it  in  such  a  manner  as  agrees 
very  well  with  what  Ezekiel  says  of  the  war  of  Gog  against 
the  Jews. 

He  speaks  in  particular  of  the  birth  of  the  Messiah ;  that 
he  was  to  be  born  at  Bethlehem ;  and  that  his  dominion  was 
to  extend  to  the  utmost  parts  of  the  earth. 

He  says  that  God  should  raise  seven  shepherds,  who  should 
reign  by  the  sv/ord  over  Assyria,  and  in  the  land  of  Nimrod ; 
which  Calmet  explains  of  Darius,  son  of  Hystaspes ;  and  of 
the  seven  confederates  that  killed  the  magian,  and  who  pos- 
sessed the  empire  of  the  Persians,  after  the  extinction  of  the 
family  of  Cyrus.  The  fifth  chapter,  from  verse  seventh  to 
the  end,  describes  the  flourishing  estate  of  the  Jews  in  their 
own  count'ry,  from  the  reign  of  Darius,  and  after  the  Macca- 
bees ;  yet  in  such  a  manner,  that  he  mingles  several  things 
in  it  that  can  apply  only  to  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ. 

First,  in  the  two  last  chapters  of  his  book,  is  a  long  invec- 
tive against  the  iniquities  of  Samaria;  then  he  foretells  the 
fall  of  Babylon ;  the  reestablishment  of  the  cities  of  Israel ; 
the  greatness  of  the  country  possessed  by  the  Israelites ;   theii 


108  MIC  AH. 

happiness  ;  the  graces  wherewith  God  will  favor  them ;  and 
all  this  in  such  loftj  terms,  that  they  chiefly  agrea  with  the 
christian  church. 

Some  of  the  prophecies  of  Micah  are  distinct  and  illus- 
trious. 

We  may  justly  admire  the  elegance  of  his  diction,  his  ani- 
mation, strength  of  expression,  and  pathos.  There  are  few 
beauties  of  composition,  of  which  examples  may  not  be  found 
in  this  2^rophet. 

For  sublimity  and  impressiveness  in  several  places,  he  is 
unrivaled. 

The  LorcVs  controversy  is  equal  to  any  thing  even  in  the 
prophet  Isaiah,  and  is  calculated  to  produce  a  powerful  effect 
on  every  attentive  reader. 

Micah,  as  God's  advocate,  summons  the  people  into  judg- 
ment, and  makes  an  appeal  to  inanimate  creation  against 
them.  He  had  spoken  to  the  priests,  to  the  princes,  and  to 
the  people.  He  had  done  every  thing  that  was  necessary  to 
make  them  Avise,  holy,  and  happy ;  they  had  uniformly  diso- 
beyed, and  were  ever  ungrateful.  It  was  not  consistent  either 
with  the  mercy  or  justice  of  God,  to  permit  them  to  go  on 
M'ithout  reprehension  and  punishment.  He  calls  them  into 
judgment;  and  such  was  the  nature  of  tlieir  crimes,  that,  to 
heighten  the  effect,  and  show  what  reason  he  had  to  punish 
such  a  people,  he  appeals  to  inanimate  creation.  Their  ingrat- 
itude and  rebellion  are  sufiicient  to  make  the  mountains,  the 
hills,  and  the  strong  foundations  of  the  earth  to  hear, 
tremble,  and  give  judgment  against  them.  Thus  did  this 
prophet  rebuke  and  exhort,  calling  upon  God  to  witness  to 
his  fidelity  and  faithfulness. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

IMPERFECT  KNOWLEDGE  OF  HIS  PERSONAL  HISTORY;  DIVERS  OPINIONS  CON- 
CERNING HIIT;    FORETELLS  WITH  ACCURACY  THE  FALL  OF  NINEVEH. 

v^^"*  AHUM,  the  seventh  of  the  twelve  minor  proph- 
ets, was  a  native  of  Elkoshai,  a  little  village  of 
Galilee,  whose  ruins  were  still  in  being  in  the 
time  of  St,  Jerome.  However,  there  are  some 
who  think  that  Elkoshai  is  rather  the  name  of 
his  father,  and  that  the  place  of  his  birth  was  Bethabor,  or 
Bethabara,  beyond  Jordan, 

They  used  to  show  the  tomb  of  the  prophet  at  a  village 
called  Beth-gab  re,  now  called  Gibbin,  near  Emmaus.  The 
Chaldee  calls  him  Nahum  of  Beth-koshi,  or  of  Beth-kitsi ; 
but  the  situation  of  this  place  is  as  much  unknown  as  that 
of  Elkoshai. 

The  particular  circumstances  of  the  life  of  Nahum  are 
altogether  unknown.  His  name  signifies  comforter;  a  very 
suitable  one,  as  he  was  sent  to  comfort  the  people,  by  show- 
ing them  that  God  was  about  to  destroy  their  adversaries. 

Opinions  are  divided  as  to  the  time  in  which  he  prophesied. 
Josephus  will  have  it  that  he  foretold  the  fall  of  Nineveh  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  years  before  it  happened,  which  will 
bring  the  time  of  Nahum  to  that  of  king  Ahaz, 

The  Jews  say  that  he  prophesied  under  Manasseh.  It  is 
the  opinion  of  St.  Jerome,  that  he  foretold  the  destruction 
of  Nineveh  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah,  and  after  the  war  of 
Sennacherib  in  Egypt,  mentioned  by  Berosus. 

Nahum  speaks  plainly  of  the  taking  of  No-Ammon,  a  city 
of  Egypt ;  of  the  haughtiness  of  Eabshakeh ;  of  the  defeat 
of  Sennacherib;  and  he  speaks  of  them  as  things  that  were 
past.  He  supposes  that  the  Jews  were  still  in  their  own 
country,  and  they  there  celebrated  their  festivals.     He  speaks 


11(?  NAHUM. 

of  tlie  captivity,  and  of  the  dispersion  of  the  ten  tribes.  iUl 
these  evidences  convince  us  that  Nahum  can  not  be  placed 
before  the  fifteenth  year  of  Hezekiah,  since  the  expedition 
of  Sennacherib  against  this  prince  was  in  the  fourteenth 
year  of  his  reign. 

His  prophecy  consists  of  three  chapters,  which  make  up 
but  one  discourse,  wherein  he  foretells  the  destruction  of 
Nineveh.  He  describes  it  in  so  lovely  and  pathetic  a  man- 
ner, that  he  seems  to  have  been  upon  the  sjiot  to  declare  to 
the  people  the  destruction  of  their  city. 

The  conduct  and  imagery  of  this  prophetical  poem  are 
truly  admirable.  The  exordium  sets  forth  with  grandeur  the 
justice  and  power  of  God,  tempered  by  lenity  and  goodness. 

A  sudden  address  to  the  Assyrians  follows ;  and  a  predic- 
tion of  their  perplexity  and  overthrow,  as  devisers  of  evil 
against  the  true  God.  Jehovah  himself  then  proclaims  free- 
dom to  his  people  from  the  Assyrian  yoke,  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Assyrian  idols. 

Upon  this,  the  prophet  in  a  most  lively  manner  turns  the 
attention  of  Judah  to  the  approach  of  the  messenger  who 
brings  such  glad  tidings,  and  bids  her  celebrate  her  festivals, 
and  offer  her  thank-offerings,  without  fear  of  so  powerful  an 
adversary. 

In  the  next  place,  Nineveh  is  called  on  to  prepare  for  the 
approach  of  her  enemies,  as  instruments  in  the  hands  of 
Jehovah ;  and  the  military  array  and  muster  of  the  Medes 
and  Babylonians,  their  rapid  approach  to  the  city,  the  process 
of  the  siege,  the  capture  of  the  place,  the  captivity,  lamenta- 
tion, and  flight  of  the  inhabitants,  the  sacking  of  the  wealthy 
city,  and  the  consequent  desolation  and  terror,  are  described 
in  the  true  spirit  of  eastern  poetry,  and  with  many  pathetic, 
vivid,  and  sublime  images. 

A  grand  and  animated  allegory  succeeds  this  description, 
which  is  explained  and  applied  to  the  city  of  Nineveh. 

The  prophet  then  denounces  a  woe  against  the  city,  for  her 
perfidy  and  violence,  and  strongly  places  before  our  eyes  the 
number  of  her  chariots  and  cavalry,  her  burnished  arms,  and 
the  great  and  unrelenting  slaughter  which  she  spread  aromid 


NAHUM.  Ill 

her.     He  assigns  her  idolatries  as  one  cause  of  her  ignominioua 
and  unpitied  fall. 

He  foretells  that  No-Ammon,  (the  Diospolis  in  the  Delta,) 
her  rival  in  populousness,  confederacies,  and  situation,  should 
share  a  like  fate  with  herself,  and  beautifully  illustrates  the 
ease  with  which  her  strong  holds  should  be  taken,  and  her 
pusilanimity  during  the  seige. 

He  pronounces  that  all  her  preparations,  her  numbers,  her 
opulence,  her  multitude  of  chief  men,  would  be  of  no  avail, 
and  that  all  her  tributaries  would  desert  her. 

He  concludes  with  a  proper  epiphonema ;  the  topics  of 
which  are,  the  greatness  and  incurablencss  of  her  wound, 
and  the  just  triumph  of  others  over  her  on  account  of  her 
extensive  oppressions. 

To  sum  up  all  with  the  decisive  judgment  of  an  eminent 
critic :  "  Not  one  of  the  minor  prophets  equals  the  sublimity, 
genius  and  spirit  of  Nahum. 

Besides,  his  prophecy  is  a  perfect  poem.  The  exordium  is 
exceedingly  majestic.  The  apparatus  for  the  destruction 
of  Nineveh,  and  the  description  of  that  catastrophe,  are 
painted  in  the  most  glowing  colors,  and  are  admirably  clear 
and  powerful." 

The  time  of  this  prophet's  death  is  not  known. 

The  Greek  meneologies  and  the  Latin  martyrologies  place 
his  festival  on  the  first  of  December. 

Petrus  Natalis  places  it  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  same 
month,  which  he  says  was  the  day  of  his  death,  without 
acquainting  us,  however,  whence  he  learned  the  circumstance. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

SPmiT  AND  ABILITY  OF  HABAKKUK;  RANK  AS  A  POET;  SUBLIfflTT  OF  HIS 
mAYER.    SPECIAL  MISSION  OF  HAGGAI;  HIS  FAITHFULNESS.    UNCER- 
TAINTY RESTING  UPON  THE  HISTORY  OF  ZEPHANIAH. 

ONCBRNIlSrG  these  three  prophets,  compara- 
tively little  is  known.  "What  we  find  in  the 
ancients  respecting  Habakkuk  is  eidentlj  fabu- 
lous, as  well  as  that  which  appears  in  the  Apoc- 
rypha. 

He  was  probably  of  the  tribe  of  Simeon,  and  a  native  of 
Beth-zacar.  ^t  is  very  likely  that  he  lived  after  the  destruc- 
tion of  Ninevah,  as  he  speaks  of  the  Chaldeans,  but  makes 
no  mention  of  the  Assyrians. 

He  appears  also  to  have  prophesied  before  the  Jewish 
captivity,  and  therefore,  it  is  thought  he  may  be  placed  in 
the  reign  of  Jehoiakim,  between  the  years  606  B.  C,  and 
598  B.  C. 

Something  of  his  spirit  is  manifested  at  the  commence- 
ment of  his  prophecy,  which  he  enters  upon  abruptly  and 
with  earnestness,  being  greatly  indignant  at  the  rapid  pro- 
gress of  vice  and  impiety  among  the  people. 

The  ardor  of  his  expostulation  with  them,  shows  how 
earnestly  he  desired  their  welfare  to  be  secured  in  the  only 
right  way, — turning  to  God. 

As  a  poet,  Habakkuk  holds  a  high  rank  among  the  He- 
brew prophets. 

The  beautiful  connection  between  the  parts  of  his  proph- 
ecy, its  diction,  imagery,  spirit  and  sublimity,  can  not  be  too 
much  admired ;  and  his  hymn,  chapter  third,  is  allowed  by 
the  best  judges,  to  be  a  master-piece  of  its  kind. 

In  the  third  verse  is  a  sudden  burst  of  poetry,  in  the  true 
spirit  of  the  ode ;  the  concealed  connection  being  that  God, 
who  had   formerly  displayed  such  power  in  delivering  the 


ZEPHANIAJS.  ^  113 

Israelites  from  Egyptian  slavery,  might  succour  their  pos- 
terity in  a  like  wonderful  manner. 

Hence  the  prophet  selects  the  most  striking  facts  of  the 
first  deliverance ;  and  to  decorate  and  render  them  impressive, 
brings  forth  all  the  power  of  his  genius,  in  all  the  strength 
and  elegance  of  his  language. 

What  crowns  the  sublimity  of  this  piece,  is  the  singular 
eloquence  of  its  close ;  and  were  it  not  that  antiquity  has 
here  and  there  thrown  its  veil  of  obscurity  over  it,  there 
could  •  not  be  conceived  a  more  perfect  and  masterly  poem 
of  its  kind. 

Leaving  its  unparalleled  piety  out  of  the  question,  it  is 
full  of  inexpressible  beauty  and  elegance. 

The  17th  and  18th  verses  give  us  the  finest  display  of 
resignation  and  confidence  often  met  with. 

Pe  knew  the  word  of  Jehovah  could  not  fail,  and  therefore 
his  confidence  is  unshaken. 

Of  Zephaniah,  who  has  given  us  a  long  list  of  his 
ancestors,  we  know  little,  because  we  know  nothing  certain 
relative  to  the  persons  of  the  family  whose  names  are 
introduced. 

We  have  one  chronological  note  which  is  of  more  value 
for  the  correct  understanding  of  his  prophecy,  than  the 
other  could  have  been,  how  circumstantially  soever  it  had 
been  delivered,  viz. :  that  he  prophesied  in  the  days  of 
Josiah,  son  of  Arnon,  king  ot  Judah ;  and  from  the  descrip- 
tion which  he  gives  of  the  disorders  which  prevailed  in 
Judea  in  his  time,  it  is  evident  that  he  must  have  prophesied  , 
before  the  reformation  made  by  Josiah,  which  was  in  the 
eighteenth  year  of  his  reign.  As  he  predicts  the  destruction 
of  Nineveh,  which  as  Calmet  remarks  could  not  have  taken 
place  before  the  sixteenth  year  of  the  above  mentioned  king, 
allowing  with  Berosus  twenty-one  years  for  the  reign  of 
Nabopolassar  over  the  Chaldeans  ;  we  must,  therefore,  place 
his  prophecy  about  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Josiah,  or 
from  B.  C.  640  to  B.  C.  609. 


114  HAGGAI. 

We  know  nothing  of  tlie  parentage  of  Haggai. 

He  was  probably  born  in  Babylon  during  the  captivity, 
and  appears  to  have  been  the  first  prophet  sent  to  the  Jews 
after  their  return  to  their  own  land. 

He  was  sent  particularly  to  encourage  the  Jews  to  proceed 
with  the  building  of  the  temple,  which  had  been  interrupted 
for  about  fourteen  years. 

Cyrus,  who  had  published  an  edict  empowering  the  Jews 
to  return  to  Jerusalem  and  rebuild  their  city  and  temple, 
revoked  this  edict  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign,  through 
the  evil  advice  of  his  courtiers,  and  other  enemies  of  the 
Jews.  After  his  death  Cambyses  renewed  the  prohibition ; 
but  after  the  death  of  Cambyses,  Darius,  the  son  of  Hystas- 
pes,  renewed  the  permission;  and  Haggai  was  sent  to 
encourage  his  countrymen  to  proceed  with  the  work.  Darius 
came  to  the  throne  about  the  year  B.  C.  521,  and  published 
his  edict  of  permission  for  the  Jews  to  rebuild  the  city  and 
temple  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign,  which  was  the  six- 
teenth of  their  return  from  Babylon. 

Haggai  received  his  commission  on  the  first  day  of  the 
month  ;  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  he  had  so  completely 
succeeded  that  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  whole 
people  engaged  heartily  in  the  Lord's  work ;  they  left  their 
own  houses  to  build  that  of  the  Lord. 

Here  was  a  faithful  reprover^  and  he  found  obedient  ears ; 
and  the  Lord's  work  was  done,  for  the  people  had  a  mind  to 
work. 

Truly  he  was  the  Lord's  messenger,  and  he  came  with  His 
message,  and  consequently,  he  came  with  authority. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

AFFIRMATION  CONCERNING  HIS  PRIESTLY  TITLE;  OBSCURITY  OF  HIS  STYLE; 

PROPHECY  RESPECTING  CHRIST.    GLORIOUS  PREDICTIONS  OF  MALA- 

CHI,  LAST  OF  THE  JEWISH  PROPHETS. 

^T^^^ECHAEIAH,  the  eleventli  of  the  twelve  minor 
prophets,  was  son  of  Berechiah,  and  grandson 
of  Iddo. 

He  returned  from  Babylon  with  Zerubbabel, 
and  began  to  prophesy  in  the  second  year  of  the 
reign  of  Darius,  son  of  Hystaspes,  in  the  year  of  the  world 
3484;  before  Christ  516;  before  the  vulgar  era,  520 ;  in  the 
eighth  month  of  the  holy  year;  and  two  months  after 
Haggai  had  begun  to  prophesy. 

These  two  prophets,  with  united  zeal,  encouraged  at  the 
same  time  the  people  to  go  on  with  the  work  of  the  temple, 
which  had  been  discontinued  for  some  years. 

The  time  and  place  of  the  birth  of  Zechariah  are  unknown. 
Some  will  have  him  to  have  been  born  at  Babylon,  during 
the  captivity ;  others  think  he  was  born  at  Jerusalem  before 
the  tribes  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  were  carried  away. 
Some  maintain  that  he  was  a  priest ;  but  others  affirm  that 
he  was  no  priest.  Many  say  that  he  was  the  immediate  son 
of  Iddo ;  others  believe,  with  much  more  reason,  that  he 
was  son  of  Berechiah,  and  grandson  of  Iddo. 

He  has  been  confounded  with  one  Zechariah,  son  of 
Barachiah,  who  lived  in'  the  time  of  Isaiah,  and  with  Zacha- 
riah,  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist ;  which  opinion  is  plainly 
incongruous.  Lastly,  he  has  been  thought  to  be  the  one 
whom  the  Saviour  mentions  as  being  killed  between  the  tem- 
ple and  the  altar ;  though  no  such  thing  is  any  where  said 
of  our  prophet. 

A  tomb  is  shown  to  this  day  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount 


116  MALA  CHI. 

of  Olives,  which,  it  is  pretended,  belongs  to  this  prophet. 
Another  writer  maintains  that  he  was  buried  in  a  place 
called  Bethariah,  one  hundred  and  fifty  furlongs  from 
Jerusalem. 

Thus  obscure  and  uncertain  is  the  history  of  Zechariah. 
We  have,  however,  his  "sure  word  of  prophecy,"  and  that 
is  to  be  relied  upon. 

He  is  the  longest  and  most  obscure  in  his  writings  of  all 
the  minor  prophets.  His  style  is  interrupted  and  without 
connection.  His  promises  concerning  the  Messiah  are  more 
particular  and  express  than  those  of  the  others. 

He  comforts  the  Jews  in  re-building  the  temple,  by  the 
assurance  of  its  final  completion  under  the  gracious  super- 
intendence of  Providence ;  that  the  all-seeing  eye  of  God 
would  constantly  guard  his  church ;  and  that  by  his  atone- 
ment he  would  procure  for  it  peace  and  pardon. 

He  foretells  the  death  of  the  Messiah,  and  the  subsequent 
persecution  of  his  disciples. 

He  gives  a  very  pathetic  and  affecting  account  of  the 
deep  sorrow  of  the  people,  when  brought  to  a  sense  of  their 
sin  in  crucifying  the  Messiah,  comparing  it  to  the  sorrow  of 
a  parent  for  his  first-born  and  only  son :  a  deep  and  retired 
sori'ow,  which  will  render  the  mourners  for  a  season  insensi- 
ble to  all  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  of  the  most  endear- 
ing society. 

He  closes  with  the  promises  of  a  bright  day,  when  "Holi- 
ness to  the  Lord"  shall  be  impressed  upon  all  the  works  and 
ways  of  man. 

We  come  now  to  Malachi,  who  is  undoubtedly  the  last 
of  the  Jewish  prophets.  He  liyed  after  Zechariah  and 
Haggai ;  for  we  find  that  the  temple^  which  was  begun  in 
their  time,  was  standing  complete  in  his. 

Some  have  thought  he  was  contemporary  with  Nehemiah ; 
indeed  several  have  supposed  that  Malachi  is  no  other  than 
Ezra  under  the  feigned  name  of  angel  of  the  Lord^  or  my 
angel. 

According  to  Archbishop  Usher  he  flourished  B.  C.  416 ;  but 


MALACHI.  117 

the  authorized  version,  shows  it  to  have  been  nineteen  years 
later. 

In  allusion  to  the  custom  of  sending  pioneers  to  prepare 
the  way  for  the  march  of  an  eastern  monarch,  he  describes 
the  coming  of  Christ's  forerunner,  and  then  of  Christ 
himself 

With  a  solemnity  becoming  the  last  of  the  prophets,  he 
closes  the  sacred  canon  with  enjoining  the  strict  observance 
of  the  law  till  the  forerunner  already  promised  should 
appear,  in  the  spirit  of  Elijah,  to  introduce  the  Messiah,  and 
begin  the  new  and  everlasting  dispensation,  even  that  of  the 
blessed  Gospel. 

There  are  three  remarkable  predictions  in  the  last  chapter 
of  Malachi.  1.  The  advent  of  John  the  Baptist,  in  the 
spirit  and  authority  of  Elijah.  2.  The  manifestation  of 
Christ  in  the  flesh,  under  the  emblem  of  Sun  of  Eighteous- 
ness.  3.  The  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  represented 
under  the  emblem  of  a  burning  oven,  consuming  every 
thing  cast  into  it.  These  three  prophecies,  relating  to  the 
most  important  facts  that  have  ever  taken  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world,  announced  here  nearly  four  hundred 
years  before  their  occurrence,  have  been  most  circumstan- 
tially fulfilled. 

From  this  time  till  the  time  of  Christ,  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  more  prophetic  revelations,  John  the  Baptist  fur- 
nishing the  connecting  link  between  the  two — Malachi  and 
Christ. 


TART    II. 


CHAPTER  I. 

f ifj  d  ^xisU 

GENERAL  DECREE  FOR  TAXATION;  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST;  CIRCUMCISION  AND 

PRESENTATION  IN  THE  TEMPLE;  FLIGHT  INTO  EGYPT;  MASSACRE  OP 

INFANTS  AT  BETHLEHEM;  DEATH  OF  HEROD,  AND  JOSEPH'S 

RETURN. 

"HEIST  Augustus  Ctesar,  the  Eoman  Emperor, 
issued  an  edict  for  a  general  taxation  on  all 
the  nations,  cities  and  towns  subject  to  the 
empire,  king  Herod,  in  consequence  of  that 
decree,  commanded  all  under  his  government 
to  muster  in  the  city  of  his  people,  or  place  of  his  descent, 
that  an  estimate  might  be  taken  of  their  persons  and  effects. 
Pursuant  to  this  order,  Joseph  and  Mary,  as  descendants 
from  the  line  of  David,  departed  from  Nazareth,  where  they 
then  resided,  and  came  to  Bethlehem,  a  city  of  Judea,  the 
place  of  the  nativity  of  David  and  his  ancestors. 

So  numerous  were  the  people  that  repaired  to  this  place, 
on  account  of  the  general  decree,  that  every  dwelling  was 
occupied;  and  Joseph  and  Mary,  though  they  could  not 
depart  thence  till  after  the  taxation,  were  forced  to  take  up 
their  residence  in  a  humble  stable,  the  spot  in  which  it  pleased 
the  Divine  wisdom  should  be  born  the  Lord  of  Life  and 
Glory,  who,  as  a  perfect  example  of  humility  to  all  his  fol- 
lowers, was  to  make  his  entrance  into,  and  his  exit  out  of, 
the  lower  world  in  the  same  mean  and  humble  manner.  In 
this  lowly  tenement  the  blessed  Virgin  brought  forth  her 
first-born,  God-like  son,  wrapped  him  in  swaddling  clothes, 
and  laid  him,  (having  no  better  place,)  in  a  manger. 

The  manner  and  place  of  our  Lord's  birth  certainly  de- 
mand our  highest  admiration  and  wonder,  as  a  striking 
display  of  wisdom,  both  in  the  direction  and  accomplishment 
of  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father.  Considered  in  his  Di' 
vine  nature,  heaven  is  the  habitation  of  his  seat,  and  the 


122  CHRIST. 

eartli  is  his  footstool ;  considered  in  his  human  nature,  he  is 
humbled  beneath  all,  being  confined  within  the  narrow  limits 
of  a  manger!  though  as  the  Son  of  God,  "  he  is  the  bright- 
ness of  his  Father's  glory,  the  express  image  of  his  person," 
and  "his  throne  is  forever  and  ever!"  As  the  son  of  man, 
O  wondrous  condescension !  he  is  wrapped  in  the  meanest 
swaddling  clothes ;  and  as  man,  he  takes  up  his  habitation 
with  the  beasts  of  the  field.  In  fine,  let  us  adore  his  grace 
and  love  in  divesting  himself  of  those  glories,  for  a  time, 
which  he  enjoyed  at  the  right  hand  of  his  Father,  assuming 
our  nature,  and  that  in  its  humblest  state,  in  order  to  raise 
us  to  that  degree  of  glory  and  happiness,  which,  by  our 
apostacy  from  God,  we  had  justly  forfeited;  exulting  with 
the  prophet,  "Sing,  O  heavens,  and  be  joyful,  0  earth,  and 
break  forth  into  singing,  0  mountains,  for  the  Lord  hath 
comforted  his  people." 

But  the  humble  manner  in  which  the  blessed  Jesus  made 
his  appearance  in  the  world,  did  not  long  eclipse  the  glory 
of  his  descent ;  a  heavenly  messenger  being  despatched  from 
above  to  apprise  mankind  of  their  Saviour's  incarnation.  It 
pleased  the  wise  Disposer  of  all  things,  by  this  holy  angel, 
first  to  make  known  to  some  honest  shepherds  who  were 
watching  their  flocks  by  night,  in  the  neighboring  fields,  the 
birth  of  the  long-promised,  long-expected  Messiah. 

The  radiance  which  shone  around  them  terrified  the  aston- 
ished peasants;  but,  to  dissipate  their  fears  and  confirm 
their  joys,  the  Divine  messenger  interposed,  and  thus  ad- 
dressed them  :■"  Fear  not:  for  behold,  I  bring  you  good 
tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.  For  unto 
you  is  born,  this  day,  in  the  city  of  David,  a  Saviour,  which 
is  Christ  the  Lord.  And  this  shall  be  a  sign  unto  you ;  ye 
shall  find  the  babe  wrapped  in  swaddling  clothes,  lying  in  a 
manger."  The  glorious  news  was  no  sooner  proclaimed, 
than  a  number  of  the  celestial  choir  were  heard  to  resound 
the  praises  of  the  Almighty  for  this  transcendent  display 
of  his  goodness  to  sinful  men :  "And  suddenly  there  was 
with  the  angel  a  multitude  of  the  heavenly  host,  praising 
God,  and  saying,  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on   earth 


CHRIST.  123 

peace,'  good  will  toward  men."  Transported  with  the  happy 
tidings  of  the  birth  of  the  Redeemer  of  Israel,  the  angel  no 
sooner  departed,  than  the  shepherds  hastened  to  Bethlehem 
in  quest  of  the  babe,  whom,  according  to  the  information 
of  the  sacred  missionary,  they  found  wrapped  in  swaddling 
clothes,  lying  in  a  manger.  This  event,  so  exactly  conform- 
able to  the-  angel's  prediction,  equally  delighted  and  amazed 
them;  nor  could  they  conceal  the  purport  of  his  mission, 
but  published  abroad  all  they  had  seen  and  heard. 

After  the  expiration  of  eight  days  from  the  birth  of  the 
holy  infant,  he  was  circumcised,  according  to  the  Mosaic 
institution;  and  thus,  by  a  few  drops,  gave  earnest  of  the 
abundance  of  blood  which  he  was  to  shed  for  the  purifica- 
tion of  mankind.  The  blessed  Redeemer  passed  through 
this  ceremony,  not  that  he  stood  in  any  necessity  for  con- 
forming to  laws  of  any  kind,  being  the  supreme  law-giver 
with  respect  to  his  exalted  nature  ;  but,  as  considered  in  his 
humble  state,  "  he  was  born  of  a  woman,  made  under  the 
law,"  and  came  according  to  his  own  declaration,  "  to  fulfill 
all  righteousness,"  it  was  requisite  he  should  conform  to  that 
custom,  which  characterized  the  Jewish  nation,  and  was  one 
of  the  principal  injunctions  of  the  Mosaic  law,  under  which 
he  was  born ;  in  order  to  fulfill  all  that  was  spoken  of  him 
in  the  Scriptures.  Besides,  as  all  the  promises  made  to 
Abraham  were  to  be  fulfilled  in  the  Messiah,  it  was  neces- 
sary that  he  should  receive  the  seal  of  circumcision,  in  order 
to  prove  his  descent  from  the  patriarch,  concerning  whom  it 
was  foretold,  "  In  thy  seed  shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth 
be  blessed." 

As  a  further  reason  of  our  Lord's  compliance  with  this 
Jewish  institution,  we  may  urge  the  propriety  of  his  finish- 
ing the  former  dispensation  by  a  strict  adherence  to  its  rules, 
as  he  was  about  to  establish  another,  and  much  better,  which 
could  not  be  effected  more  fully  than  by  conforming  to  that 
sacrament,  which  was  of  Divine  injunction,  and  indispensably 
requisite  to  admission  into  the  former. 

As  the  same  institution  also  required  that  every  first-born 
son,  without  any  regard  to  circumstance  or  family,  should 


124 


CHKIST. 


be  presented  to  the  Lord,  in  the  temple,  by  delivering  him  into 
the  hands  of  the  priest,  and  paying  five  shekels,  together  with 
an  offering,  which,  from  the  poorer  sort,  consisted  of  a  pair  of 
turtle-doves,  or  two  young  pigeons ;  a  ceremony  in  commemo- 
ration of  the  Divine  mercy  in  sparing  the  first-born  in  Israel, 
when  those  of  Egypt,  both  men  and  beasts  were  destroyed ;  his 
parents  having  tarried  at  Bethlehem  till  the  days  of  Mary's 
purification  were  accomplished,  brought  the  child  Jesus  to 
Jerusalem,  and  there  presented  him  in  the  temple  to  the 
Lord,  in  the  manner  just  described,  with  the  offering  allowed 
to  the  poorer  sort  of  people;  a  repeated  instance  of  the 
exact  obedience  of  the  immaculate  Jesus  to  the  ceremonial 
law,  as  well  as  the  poverty  of  his  parents,  though  descended 
from  a  royal  house. 

During  the  presentation  of  the  holy  infant,  there  entered 
the  temple  a  pious  and  venerable  old  man,  named  Simeon, 
who,  with  all  the  devout,  had  "  waited  day  and  night  for  the 
consolation  of  Israel,"  and  to  whom  it  had  been  revealed  by 
the  spirit  of  Truth,  that  he  should  not  depart  this  mortal 
life  till  he  had  seen  the  Lord  of  life  and  salvation. 

Accordingly  it  was  signified  to  him  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  at 
whose  instance  he  came  at  the  precise  time  into  the  temple, 
that  the  child  there  presented  was  the  long-expected  -Messiah, 
even  the  Eedeemer  of  Israel.  In  an  ecstacy  of  joy  he  em- 
braced the  heavenly  infant  in  his  arms,  and  broke  out  into 
this  rhapsody:  "Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart 
in  peace,  according  to  thy  word ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
thy  salvation,  which  thou  hast  prepared  before  the  face  of  all 
people:  a  light  to  lighten  the  Gentiles,  and  the  glory  of 
thy  people  Israel." 

The  exultation  of  Simeon  astonished  the  parents  of  our 
Lord  ;  not  as  unworthy  the  Divine  subject  of  it,  to  which  are 
due  strains  superior  either  to  men  or  angels,  but  as  evincing 
the  old  man's  certain  knowledge  that  the  child  was  the  prom- 
ised Messiah,  though  he  was  an  absolute  stranger.  But  their 
surprise  was  soon  removed  by  Simeon's  saying  unto  Mary, 
his  mother,  "Behold,  this  child  is  set  for  the  fall  and  rising 
again  of  many  in  Israel;"  or  in  other  words,  this  is  the 


CHRIST. 


125 


stumbling  block  and  :ock  of  offense,  -wbicli  it  was  long  fore- 
told by  God  should  be  laid  jn  Zion,  and  wbich  should  occa- 
sion the  fall  of  many  in  Israel;  for  through  the  humble 
manner  of  his  birth,  and  his  abject  state  upon  cartel,  he 
became  despised  and  rejected  of  men ;  yet  he  is  set  for  the 
rising  again  of  many,  who  shall  rely  upon  his  merits,  and 
submit  to  his  government. 

A  certain  good  prophetess,  called  Anna,  who  had  for  a 
long  time  waited  for  the  redemption  of  Israel,  entering  the 
temple  at  the  instant  in  which  Simeon  exulted  in  the  birth 
of  the  heavenly  infant,  and  finding  that  he  was  the  promised 
Messiah,  likewise  joined  with  him  in  praising  God,  and  went 
forth  and  declared  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  all  the 
faithful  in  those  parts. 

Having,  in  every  respect,  complied  with  the  ceremonies 
and  rites  contained  in  the  law  of  Moses,  Joseph  and  Mary, 
with  the  child  Jesus,  entered  into  Galilee,  to  their  own  city, 
Nazareth,  but  did  not  long  abide  there ;  for  having  adjusted 
their  affairs,  they  returned  again  to  Bethlehem,  the  place  of 
our  Lord's  nativity. 

This  step  seems  to  have  been  pursued  in  consequence  of 
their  opinion  that  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  his  being 
acknowledged  the  Messiah,  sent  by  God,  that  he  should 
reside,  some  time,  in  the  place  of  his  birth. 

Whatever  was  their  motive  for  a  removal,  it  is  evident, 
from  Scripture,  that  while  they  were  in  Bethlehem  with  their 
son,  certain  eastern  philosophers,  called  magi,  or  wise  men, 
came,  in  consequence  of  the  appearance  they  had  seen,  to 
Jerusalem,  and  inquired  for  the  King  of  the  Jews ;  declaring 
they  had  seen  his  star  in  their  own  quarter,  and  were  come 
to  pay  him  the  adorations  due  to  his  dignity. 

The  whole  city  of  Jerusalem  was  alarmed  at  the  unex- 
pected arrival  of  the  eastern  magi;  an  event  which  much 
perplexed  the  tyrant  Herod,  whose  ambitious  mind  main- 
tained the  utmost  aversion  to  the  very  thought  of  a  rival  or 
competitor,  and  consequently  could  not  brook  a  report  that 
favored  the  news  of  the  birth  of  a  king  of  the  Jews. 

Disguising,  however,  his  sentiments,  he  received  the  magi 


126  CHE  1ST. 

with  seeming  respect,  attended  to  the  design  of  their  errand 
with  affected  simplicity,  and,  to  gratify  their  curiosity,  sum- 
moned a  general  council,  and  demanded  of  them  where 
Christ  should  be  born.  The  council  kept  him  not  long  in 
suspense,  for  well  remembering  that  the  prophets  had  partic- 
ularly foretold  the  place  of  his  birth,  they  replied  to  the 
demand  of  their  monarch,  "In  Bethlehfem  of  Judea;"  and  to 
confirm  their  answer,  cited  prophetic  authority  :  "And  thou, 
Bethlehem,  in  the  land  of  Juda,  art  not  the  "least  among  the 
princes  of  Juda;  for  out  of  thee  shall  come  a  governor  that 
shall  rule  my  people  Israel." 

The  tyrant  king,  in  consequence  of  the  reply  from  the 
supreme  council  of  the  nation,  directed  the  magi  to  Bethle- 
hem, as  the  place,  according  to  ancient  prophecy,  designed 
for  the  honor  of  Christ's  nativity,  earnestly  entreating  them, 
at  the  same  time,  immediately,  on  their  finding  out  the  child, 
to  send  him  word,  that  he  might  repair  thither,  and  pay  his 
adoration  to  him  also. 

But  this  was  mere  pretense,  and  vile  hypocrisy ;  for  so  far 
was  Herod  from  entertaining  any  religious  regard  for  the 
infant  Jesus,  that  he  vowed  in  his  heart  to  destroy  him  as 
soon  as  he  should  be  found ;  looking  on  him  as  designed  for 
a  temporal  prince,  who  would  expel  him,  or  his  descendants, 
from  the  throne  of  Judea,  instead  of  a  prince  whose  king- 
dom was  wholly  spiritual,  and  whose  throne  was  not  to  be 
established  upon  earth,  but  in  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 

We  can  not  have  a  more  convincing  proof  of  the  divinity 
of  our  Saviour's  mission,  than  his  miraculous  preservation 
from  the  designs  of  the  ambitious  Herod.  The  tyrant,  in 
this  case,  acted  with  the  utmost  subtility ;  he  declined  accom- 
panying the  wise  men  in  person ;  nor  did  he  even  send 
attendants  with  them,  who,  under  the  guise  of  honoring 
them,  might  have  secretly  informed  him  of  the  abode  of  the 
Messiah. 

However,  the  magi,  having  obtained  the  intelligence  they 
sought  in  Jerusalem,  set  forward,  under  the  guidance  of  the 
same  star  that  conducted  them  from  their  own  country,  but 
uad  left  them  on  their  arrival  in  Judea,  which  was  the  cause 


CHEIST.  127 

of  their  directing  their  course  to  the  capital,  in  order  to  seek 
that  information,  which,  by  the  desertion  of  the  star,  became 
requisite.  Thus  it  appears  the  design  of  the  Almighty,  in 
directing  the  eastern  magi  to  the  capital  of  Judea,  was,  that 
the  whole  nation  might  be  made  acquainted  with  the  cause 
of  their  journey. 

Accordingly,  they  had  no  sooner  proceeded  from  Jerusa- 
lem, on  their  way  to  Bethlehem,  than  their  kind  conductor 
again  appeared,  went  before  them  to  the  very  city,  and  fixed 
on  the  habitation  of  the  heavenly  infant. 

Guided  by  this  celestial  conductor,  they  entered  the  house, 
and  prostrating  themselves  at  the  sacred  feet  of  their  spiritual 
king,  presented  him  with  gifts  of  gold,  frankincense,  and 
myrrh.  Having  thus  accomplished  the  design  of  their  expe- 
dition, they  proposed,  according  to  promise,  returning  to 
Jerusalem ;  but  being  diverted  from  that  intention  by  a 
dream,  in  which  they  were  warned  by  God  of  Herod's  design, 
they  pursued  another  course,  toward  their  own  country,  and 
by  those  means  defeated  his  malicious  purposes. 

No  sooner  had  the  wise  men  departed  from  Bethlehem, 
than  Joseph  was  warned  by  a  heavenly  messenger  of  the 
barbarous  purpose  of  Herod,  and  commanded  to  flee  into 
Egypt,  with  the  young  child  and  his  mother. 

Joseph,  in  obedience  to  the  Almighty's  command,  rose  that, 
very  night,  and  fled  into  Egypt ;  and  was  there  until  the  death 
of  Herod,  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  vrhich  was  spoken  of  the 
Lord,  by  the  prophet:  "  Out  of  Egypt  have  I  called  my  son.'^ 

The  king  of  Judea  long  waited,  with  the  most  earnest 
expectation,  the  return  of  the  wise  men,  anxious  to  glut  his 
full  resentment  on  the  innocent  Jesus ;  till  from  their  long 
delay,  he  began  to  suspect  a  delusion,  and  that  his  designs 
were  frustrated  by  some  extraordinary  interposition  of  Prov- 
idence. 

At  length,  irritated  by  disappointment,  he  resolved  to 
accomplish  by  cruelty,  a  resolution  he  could '  not  effect  by 
art,  and  accordingly  issued  orders  to  a  large  party  of  soldiers 
to  go  throughout  Bethlehem,  and  all  the  neighboring  villages, 
and  massacre  all  the  children  they  could  find  therein  that 


128  CHEIST. 

were  two  years  old  and  under ;  thinking  that  the  infant  Jesns, 
whom,  as  a  prince,  he  both  envied  and  dreaded,  would  fall  in 
the  general  slaughter. 

But  the  heavenly  missionary  was  sheltered  from  above ; 
nor  was  the  relentless  king  permitted  to  impede  the  design 
of  an  Almighty  Creator. 

The  tyrant  Herod  being  cut  off  from  the  face  of  the  earth, 
Joseph  was  warned  by  an  heavenly  messenger  to  return  to 
the  land  of  Israel. 

The  good  old  man  obeyed  the  Almighty's  command^  and 
appears  to  have  had  a  great  desire  of  residing  in  Judea,  and 
very  probably  in  Bethlehem;  but  hearing  that  Herod  was 
succeeded  in  his  throne  by  his  son  Archelaus,  and  fearing 
that  he  might  pursue  the  barbarous  designs  of  his  father,  he 
directed  his  course  another  way ;  but  being  warned  again  by 
a  heavenly  mission,  he  retired  into  Galilee,  under  the  govern- 
ment of  a  mild  and  benevolent  prince,  called  Antipas,  and 
took  up  his  habitation  at  Nazareth,  where  the  particular  cir- 
cumstances which  attended  the  birth  of  the  blessed  Jesus 
were  not  generally  known. 

The  evangelist  afiirms  that  Joseph,  with  the  infant  and  his 
mother,  resided  at  Nazareth,  where  the  holy  Jesus  spent  his 
youth;  "that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the 
prophet,  He  shall  be  called  a  Nazarene." 


CHAPTER  II. 


EARLY  CHILDHOOD  OF  JESUS;  ARGUMENT  WITH  JEWISH  DOCTORS;  BAPTISM 

AND  VISIBLE  DESCENT  OE  THE  SPIRIT  UPON  HIM ;  TEMPTATION  IN 

THE  WILDERNESS;  HIS  FIRST  MIRACLE. 


HE  precise  circumstances  of  our  Lord's  childhood 


and  life  previous  to  his  public  ministry,  can  not 
be  ascertained  from  the  writings  of  any  of  the 
evangelists,  which  can  alone  be  relied  on  as  au- 
thentic. All  we  can  gather  from  those  inspired 
men  is,  that  the  faculties  of  his  mind  were  enlarged  in  pro- 


©IKlKOSir   ©D^EPyTTDKKS  WCTTM   ITKl'^  ©©(PTf^l^^a 


CHKIST.  '  129 

portion  to  the  growth  of  his  body,  insomuch  that  he  andved 
at  the  very  perfection  of  heavenly  wisdom. 

As  his  parents  were  mean  and  poor,  he  had  not  the  advan- 
tage of  a  finished  education ;  and  he  seems  to  have  received 
no  other  instruction  than  what  his  parents  gave  him,  in 
conformity  to  the  Jewish  laws.  But  supernatural  abilities 
amply  compensated  for  the  deficiency  of  natural  acquire- 
ments, and  he  gave  instances  in  his  earliest  years  of  amazing 
penetration,  and  consummate  wisdom. 

According  to  the  Mosaic  institution,  his  parents  annually 
went  up  to  Jerusalem ;  and  when  he  arrived  at  the  age  of 
twelve  years,  carried  him  with  them  to  that  cit}^,  in  order 
that  he  might  early  imbibe  the  precepts  of  religion  and 
virtue. 

In  this  place  the  holy  Jesus  tarried,  without  the  knowledge 
and  consent  of  his  parents,  who  departed  with  the  rest  that 
were  going  toward  Galilee;  and  thinking  that  he  was  gone 
forward  with  some  of  their  relations  or  acquaintance,  they 
continued  their  journey,  not  doubting  but  they  should  over- 
take him  on  the  road,  or  meet  with  him  at  the  place  they 
had  appointed  to  lodge.  But  on  their  arrival,  not  finding 
the  child  in  the  village,  nor  among  their  relations,  they 
returned  to  Jerusalem,  much  troubled,  and  after  a  most 
anxious  search  of  three  days,  found  him  in  the  temple, 
sitting  among  the  learned  doctors,  who  were  amazed  at  the 
wisdom  of  his  questions,  and  the  pertinence  of  his  replies, 
which  were  greatly  superior  to  the  utmost  they  could  expect 
from  one  of  his  tender  years  and  mean  education. 

The  wonder  of  his  parents  at  finding  him  in  such  sublime 
employment,  was  beyond  expression;  though  .his  pious 
mother,  notwithstanding  the  pleasure  which  the  discovery 
afibrded  her,  could  not  help  showing  the  concern  which  his 
absence  without  their  knowledge  had  occasioned  them,  bj^ 
addressing  them  thus :  "  Son,  why  hast  thou  dealt  so  with 
us?"  To  this  question  he  replied,  that  their  suprise  at  his 
absenting  himself  without  their  knowledge  was  groundless 
and  absurd,  as  they  might  have  been  assured  from  his  extra- 
ordinary birth,  and   the   wondci'ful  circumstances  attending 


130 


CHEIST. 


it,  that  his  Father  was  no  less  than  the  Ahiiighty  One  of 
Israel ;  that  he  assumed  human  nature  to  promote  his  glo- 
rious design ;  and,  therefore,  as  his  errand  was  of  such 
moment,  they  must  not  imagine  he  could  always  reside  with 
them.  "How  is  it  that  ye  sought  me?  Wist  ye  not  that  I 
must  be  about  my  Father's  business?" 

Though  his  parents  did  not  clearly  discern  the  force  of 
this  excellent  remonstrance,  his  pious  mother  committed  his 
words  to  memor}^,  and,  together  with  Joseph,  joyfully 
returned  with  him  to  their  poor  dwelling  at  Nazareth, 
where  he  lived  with  them  in  dutiful  subjection,  and  thereby 
afforded  a  noble  example  for  the  imitation  of  all  children, 
who  are  certainly  bound  to  yield  obedience  to  their  parents, 
since  the  Son  of  God  himself,  when  on  earth,  has  set  them. 
the  pattern  by  practicing  every  branch  of  filial  duty  to  his 
earthly  parents. 

The  blessed  Jesus  continued  in  this  lowly  state  for  some 
time,  during  which  he  greatly  advanced,  both  in  knowledge 
and  stature  ;  and  by  his  extraordinary  qualities,  attracted  the 
regard  and  admiration  of  all  who  either  saw  or  heard  him. 

Being  happily  free  from  those  inordinate  disquieting  de- 
sires which  disturb  and  distract  mortals,  he  was  always  in 
temper  calm  and  sedate,  which,  added  to  a  pleasant  counte- 
nance, combined  to  improve  the  strength  of  his  faculties, 
and  the  goodness  of  his  disposition. 

lie  was  also  an  excellent  orator,  being  endowed  with  a 
most  nervous  and  persuasive  elocution,  insomuch  that  his 
hearers,  frequently  astonished  at  the  substance  and  manner 
of  his  address,  would  suddenly  cry  out,  "Never  man  spake 
like  this  man !" 

Though  considered  in  his  Divine  nature,  he  was  so  far 
superior  to  human  nature,  during  the  time  in  which  he  lived 
thus  humbly  with  his  parents,  yet  he  condescended  to  work 
with  his  father  at  his  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and  thereby  left 
us  a  shining  example  of  industry. 

Thus  obscurely  did  the  blessed  Jesus  live,  till  the  time 
of  his  public  ministry ;  nor  did  he  show  any  miracles,  or 
perform   any  actions,  to  distinguish  him  from  the  rest  of 


CHRIST.  131 

mankind;  bis  Divine  nature  and  tlie  annexed  properties, 
during  the  time  of  his  private  life,  being  concealed  under  the 
veil  of  bis  human  nature. 

During  the  time  of  John  the  Baptist's  continuance  at  Beth- 
abara,  the  blessed  Jesus  left  bis  retirement  at  Nazareth,  and 
previous  to  bis  public  ministry,  repaired  to  the  banks  of  the 
river  Jordan,  where  John  was  executing  bis  commission  from 
above,  in  order  to  be  there  baptized  of  him. 

Yf  e  can  not  impute  this  conduct  of  our  Lord  to  any 
necessity  there  was  for  bis  conforming  to  the  institution  of 
baptism,  for  purity  needs  not  cleansing ;  it  is  therefore  evi- 
dent that  his  motive  was  to  add  a  sanction  to  that  ordinance, 
forever  after  appointed  to  be  the  initiating  rite  of  Christian- 
ity.— "  Go,  baptize  all  nations,"  &c. 

It  appears  that  John  immediately,  as  it  were,  by  a  pro- 
phetic revelation,  knew  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  for  we 
find,  from  the  evangelist,  that  he  acknowledged  his  superi- 
ority, and  declined  the  office,  saying,  "I  have  need  to  be 
baptized  of  thee,  and  comest  thou  to  me  ?"  Our  Lord's 
answer,  though  sbort,  is  very  full  and  expressive :  "  Suffer 
it  to  be  so  now,  for  thus  it  becometh  us  to  fulfill  all  right- 
eousness." As  if  he  bad  said,  regard  not  the  precedence,  at 
this  time,  but  perform  thy  work ;  for  it  is  necessary  that  we 
should,  in  the  minutest  point,  conform  to  the  Divine  will, 
by  which  this  institution  is  enjoined. 

This  remonstrance  removed  the  objections  of  John,  and 
he  baptized  the  immaculate  Jesus,  in  the  river  Jordan,  in  the 
presence  of  numerous  spectators. 

When  the  ceremony  was  performed,  as  he  needed  not  the 
instructions  usually  given  on  the  occasion,  he  went  up 
straightway  out  of  the  water,  and  kneeling  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  fervently  addressed  his  Almighty  Father,  for  an 
abundant  effusion  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  as  he  was  now  entering 
on  his  public  ministry,  the  prelude  of  his  important  mission, 
the  end  of  which  was  the  salvation  of  all  mankind. 

His  prayer  was  heard,  his  request  was  granted ;  and  an 
immediate  attestation  of  the  Divine  pleasure  given  by  a 
visible  ray  of  glory  around  him,  and  an  audible  voice 'pro 


132  CHRIST. 

ceeding  from  tlie  Holy  Spirit,  in  the  form  of  a  dove,  and 
pronouncing  these  words,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom 
I  am  well  pleased,"  distinguishing  his  peculiar  approbation 
of  the  blessed  Jesus  by  the  epithet  beloved^  as  well  as  his 
standing  in  that  relation  to  him  in  a  manner  nearer  than  any 
of  the  human  race,  who  are  called,  in  common,  the  sons  of 
men. 

This  voice  resembled  not  any  human  sound ;  but  was  loud 
and  awful,  like  the  thunders  of  heaven,  in  order  to  strike 
with  reverence  the  surrounding  multitude,  and  publicly 
declare  the  holy  mission  of  the  promised  Messiah. 

The  blessed  Jesus  was  called,  in  the  Old  Testament,  the 
Son  of  God,  but  was  on  this  occasion,  declared,  by  the 
Almighty  himself,  to  be  the  long  expected  deliverer  of  Israel. 

Thus,  all  who  were  present  at  this  marvelous  descent  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  were  amply  convinced  of  the  divine  mission 
of  our  blessed  Lord  by  an  infallible  testimony  from  above ; 
this  being  "  the  star  that  was  to  come  out  of  Jacob,  and  the 
sceptre  that  was  to  rise  out  of  Israel ;"  the  Shiloh  foretold  by 
the  patriarch  Jacob ;  the  Great  Prophet^  by  Moses  ;  the  Holy 
One^  by  David ;  the  Prince  of  Peace^  by  Isaiah,  and  the  Son 
of  Man.  But  this  remarkable  event  tended  much  more  to 
the  glory  of  the  Messiah,  than  all  those  prophecies,  as  it  was, 
in  some  measure,  a  real  display  of  what  they  could  only  pic- 
ture in  the  dark. 

The  Great  Redeemer  having  thus  complied  with  the  insti- 
tution of  baptism,  and  received  a  most  convincing  testimony 
of  his  heavenly  Father's  approbation,  by  the  miraculous 
descent  and  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost  upon  him,  while 
praying  upon  the  banks  of  Jordan,  in  the  presence  of  a  mul- 
titude of  spectators,  entered  on  his  public  ministry,  at  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  according  to  the  usual  custom  of  the 
priests  among  the  Jews. 

It  was  apprehended  by  the  people  that,  as  he  had  but  just 
begun  his  public  ofiice,  he  would  repair  to  Jerusalem,  the 
seat  of  power  and  grandeur,  in  order  to  display  to  the  mighty 
and  learned,  his  miraculous  abilities,  and  effulgent  glories. 
Hut  averse  to  human   j^arade,  the  heavenly-minded  Jesus 


CHRIST.  133 

preferred  solitude  to  the  noise  and  hurry  of  mortal  life ;  lie 
therefore  retired  into  the  wilderness,  in  order  to  prepare  him- 
self, by  fixsting,  meditation,  prayer,  and  sustaining  temptation, 
for  the  important  work  on  which  he  was  entering, — the  sal- 
vation of  mankind. 

To  promote  this  grand  design,  the  evangelists  write,  that 
this  retirement  into  the  wilderness  was  in  consequence  of  the 
immediate  direction  of  the  Divine  Spirit.  Though  solitude 
itself  is  melancholy,  the  blessed  Jesus  added  to  the  dismal 
scene,  by  retiring  on  a  barren  spot,  surrounded  by  high  and 
craggy  mountains,  and  forming  a  dark  i  /id  gloomy  chaos. 

In  this  wild  and  dreary  situation,  the  great  Redeemer,  as 
Moses  and  Elijah  had  done  before  him,  fasted  forty  days  and 
forty  nights,  maintained  an  incessant  communion  with  his 
heavenly  Father,  digested  the  doctrine  he  was  about  to  de- 
liver, and  the  obedience  he  came  to  perform  ;  and  by  a  total 
abstinence  from  food  for  forty  days  and  forty  nights,  evinced 
the  divinity  of  his  mission,  or,  in  other  words,  proved  that 
he  was  "  a  teacher  from  God." 

But  the  melancholy  solitude  of  a  desert,  and  the  extreme 
of  hunger  and  thirst,  were  but  a  small  part  of  our  Saviour's 
sufferings  in  the  wilderness:  Satan,  that  implacable  foe  to 
mankind,  was  permitted  to  buffet  him  with  the  most  insinua- 
ting wiles,  and  assail  him  with  the  most  alluring  temptations, 
in  order  to  attempt  the  defeat  of  heaven's  most  gracious 
designs  and  keep  mankind  under  the  dreadful  dominion  of 
sin  and  death. 

That  in  order  to  be  a  shining  pattern  of  every  virtue,  and 
also  a  wise  and  valiant  general,  the  blessed  Redeemer  under- 
went all  the  diflEiculties  attending  his  service,  that  we,  being 
animated  by  his  glorious  example,  might  not  sink  under  the 
pressure  and  troubles,  which  God,  for  our  good,  should  be 
pleased  to  lay  upon  us. 

At  the  expiration  of  forty  days,  when  the  blessed  Jesus 
had  endured  the  keenest  hunger,  the  tempter,  to  make  proof 
of  the  divinity  of  his  mission,  insolently  demanded  why  he 
bore  the  sensations  of  hunger,  since,  if  he  was  the  Son  of 
God,  he  must  have  power  to  change  even  the  stones  of  that 


134  CHRIST. 

dreary  wilderness  into  bread ;  and  by  so  marvelous  a  trans 
mutation,  he  might  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  the 
truth  of  what  was  said  concerning  him  at  his  baptism. 

But  our  blessed  Saviour  repelled  this  device,  by  citing  the 
words  of  Moses,  which  implied  that  God,  whenever  it  seemed 
good  in  his  sight,  could  by  extraordinary  means  provide  for 
the  support  of  the  human  race :  "  Man  shall  not  live  by 
bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  of  God." 

Satan  being  defeated  in  this  effort,  took  him  to  the  top  of 
a  very  high  mountain,  and  thinking  to  work  upon  him  by 
another  artifice,  showed  him  a  bright  view  of  all  the  king- 
doms of  the  world,  with  their  alluring  glories,  promising 
him  universal  empire  over  the  whole,  if  he  would  bow  down 
and  yield  to  him  the  honor  of  the  benefaction. 

This  blasphem}^,  as  well  as  insolence,  incited  the  blessed 
Jesus  to  exert  his  divine  authority,  and  command  him,  in  a 
peremptory  manner,  to  desist, — citing  this  special  injunction 
from  sacred  writ,  "  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 

Thus  repelled,  he  repeated  the  attempt,  and  having  taken 
our  Lord  to  Jerusalem,  placed  him  on  a  pinnacle  of  the  tem- 
ple, and,  by  a  taunt  of  insolence,  urged  him  to  prove  the 
truth  of  his  mission,  by  casting  himself  down  from  thence, — 
citing,  as  an  encouragement  for  him  to  comply  with  his 
desire,  a  text  from  the  Psalms :  "  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God, 
cast  thyself  down ;  for  it  is  written.  He  shall  give  his  angels 
charge  concerning  thee,  and  in  their  hands  they  shall  bear 
thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone." 

But  our  Saviour  soon  baffled  this  attempt,  by  another  apt 
quotation  from  Scripture  :  "  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord 
thy  God." 

Thus  baffled  in  all  his  arts  and  devices,  by  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  the  Son  of  God,  he  departed  from  him,  and  a  host 
of  celestial  spirits,  despatched  from  the  regions  of  bliss,  came 
and  ministered  refreshment  to  our  Saviour,  after  his  victory 
over  the  great  enemy  and  deceiver  of  mankind. 

After  a  brief  period,  during  which,  the  great  Redeemer, 
having  attested  the  divinity  of  his  mission  by  many  incon- 


CHRIST.  135 

testible  evidences,  and  made  five  disciples,  departed  for  Gal- 
ilee, where,  soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was  invited,  with  his 
mother  and  disciples,  to  a  marriage  feast  at  Cana,  a  place 
near  Nazareth, 

At  these  nuptials  there  happened  to  be  a  scarcity  of  wine, 
and  his  mother,  who  interested  herself  in  the  conduct  of  the 
feast,  and  was  therefore  desirous  that  every  thing  should  be 
done  with  decorum,  applied  to  her  son,  hoping  he  would  be 
able  to  remedy  the  defect. 

She  had,  doubtless,  conceived  he  had  the  power  of  work- 
ing miracles,  and,  addressing  herself  to  him,  said,  "  They 
have  no  wine."  Our  Lord  gently  reproved  her  in  these 
words  :  "  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee?  Mine  hour 
is  not  yet  come ;"  that  is,  the  time  or  period  of  my  public 
ministry  is  not  jet  arrived,  nor  is  it  time  for  me  to  display 
my  supernatural  powers. 

Notwithstanding  this  mild  reproof,  his  mother  still  enter- 
tained an  opinion  that  he  would  interest  himself  in  behalf 
of  her  and  the  company,  and  therefore  ordered  the  servants 
punctually  to  obey  his  commands. 

Our  blessed  Lord,  being  assured  that  working  a  miracle 
would  greatly  tend  to  confirm  the  faith  of  his  young  disci- 
ples, exerted  his  divine  power,  by  ordering  the  servants  to 
fill  six  water-pots,  each  containing  about  twenty  gallons,  with 
water  ;  which  was  no  sooner  done,  than  the  whole  was  con- 
verted into  excellent  wine.  He  then  ordered  them  to  draw, 
and  bear  to  the  governor  of  the  feast,  who,  being  ignorant 
of  the  miracle  that  had  been  wrought,  and  astonished  at  the 
preference  of  this  wine  to  that  which  had  been  served  up  at 
the  beginning  of  the  feast,  addressed  himself  to  the  bride- 
groom,  in  the  hearing  of  the  whole  company,  telling  him 
that,  contrary  to  the  usual  custom,  he  had  reserved  the  best 
wine  to  the  last ;  at  the  same  time  commending  so  judicious 
a  practice,  as  a  plain  proof  of  his  approbation  of  his  friends 
present  at  the  entertainment. 

The  bridegroom  was  equally  surprised  at  the  address  of 
the  governor  of  the  feast,  and  the  occasion  of  it,  which  was 
effected  by  the  supernatural  power  of  our  blessed  Lord 


136  CHRIST. 

This  miracle,  wliicli  was  the  first  wrought  by  Jesus,  con- 
firmed the  faith  of  his  followers,  and  spread  his  renown 
throughout  the  adjacent  country. 

The  blessed  Jesus  having  thus,  by  divers  means,  confirmed 
the  faith  of  his  disciples,  and  attested  the  truth  and  divinity 
of  his  mission  among  those  with  whom  he  had  been  brought 
up,  departed  from  Cana,  and  proceeded  toward  Jerusalem,  i  u 
order  to  keep  the  approaching  passover. 


CHAPTER    III. 

DISPUTE  WITH  NICODEirUS;    BAPTHES  IN  JUDEA;   INSTRUCTS  A  POOR  SAXA 

RITAN  WOMAN;    HEALS  THE  NOBLEMAN'S  SON;    PREACHES  TO  A 

NUMEROUS  AUDLENCE,  HIS  WELL  KNOWN  SERMON  ON 

THE  MOUNT. 

-UE  blessed  Lord,  immediately  on  his  arrival  at 
Jerusalem,  repaired  to  the  temple,  where  he  was 
shocked  at  beholding  a  place  dedicated  to  the 
solemn  Service  of  Almighty  God,  so  prostituted 
to  purposes  of  fraud  and  avarice,  and  become 
the  resort  of  traders  of  every  kind.  Such  abuse  could  not 
long  escape  his  notice  or  correction,  having  an  absolute  right 
to  chastise  so  flagi-ant  a  perversion  of  a  place  that,  strictly 
speaking,  was  his  own.  "  The  Lord,  whom  ye  seek,  shall 
suddenly  come'  to  his  temple ;  even  the  Messenger  of  the 
Covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in :  behold,  he  shall  come,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts." 

Accordingly,  the  blessed  Jesus,  whose  pious  soul  was 
vexed  at  their  profanation  of  the  sacred  place,  drove  out  the 
traders,  and  overset  the  tables  of  the  money-changers,  saying 
unto  them  that  sold  doves,  "  Take  these  things  hence  :  make 
not  my  Father's  house  a  house  of  merchandise." 

These  mercenary  wretches  appear  to  have  been  struck  at 
once  with  a  consciousness  of  their  guilt,  and  the  severity  of 
our  Lord's  reproof,  as  they  immediately  departed,  without 
making  the  least  resistance. 


CHRIST. 


137 


But  our  Lord's  conduct  in  this  affair,  carrying  witli  it  every 
token  of  zeal,  for  which  the  ancient  prophets  were  so  remark- 
able, the  council  assembled,  and  determined  to  inquire  by 
what  authority  he  attempted  such  a  reformation,  requiring, 
at  the  same  time,  demonstrative  proof  of  the  divinity  of  his 
commission.  To  gratify  their  curiosity,  our  blessed  Lord 
referred  them  only  to  the  miracle  of  his  own  resurrection : 
"Destroy,"  said  he,  laying  his  hand  on  his  breast,  "this  tem- 
ple, and  I  will  raise  it  up,  in  three  days."  The  rulers,  mis- 
taking his  meaning,  imagined  that  he  referred  to  the  superb 
and  lofty  temple  finished  by  Herod,  and  therefore  told  him 
such  a  relation  was  highly  improbable ;  nor  had  they  the 
least  reason  to  think  he  could  possibly  rebuild,  in  three  days, 
that  magnificent  structure,  which  had  been  finished  at  im- 
mense expense,  and  was  the  labor  of  so  many  (forty-six) 
years. 

Though  the  blessed  Jesus  declined  compliance  with  the 
request  of  the  mighty  and  noble,  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Jerusalem,  he  wrought  several  miracles  in  the  presence  of 
the  common  people,  in  order  to  confirm  the  doctrines  he 
delivered,  and  prove  the  divinity  of  his  mission. 

As  there  had  not  been  any  miracles  wrought  among  them 
for  a  considerable  time,  though  many  were  recorded  in  their 
sacred  books,  they  beheld  Jesus  with  amazement  and  vene- 
ration ;  and  numbers  were  satisfied  that  he  was  the  long- 
promised  Messiah,  the  desired  of  all  nations,  so  often  foretold 
by  the  prophets.  For  wise  reasons,  however,  he  did  not  pub- 
licly discover  that  he  was  the  Great  Prophet^  as  he  knew  that 
the  faith  of  numbers  was  yet  but  weak,  and  that  consequently, 
many  would  desert  his  cause  when  they  found  he  was  opposed 
by  the  Sanhedrim,  or  great  council  of  the  nation,  and  did  not 
set  up -a  worldly  kingdom,  as  they  thought  the  expected 
Messiah  would  do. 

But  the  miracles  wrought  by  the  holy  Jesus  did  not  excite 
the  wonder  and  astonishment  of  the  common  and  illiterate 
class  of  people  alone. 

Nicodemus,  a  principal  person  among  them,  on  impartial 
reflection   on  his  wondrous  works,  so  astonishing  in  their 


138 


CHRIST. 


nature,  so  demonstrative  in  their  proofs,  so  salutary  in  their 
effects,  so  happily  adapted  to  the  confirmation  of  his  doc- 
trines, and  so  perfectly  agreeable  to  the  attributes  of  the 
Deity,  as  well  as  the  predictions  of  the  ancient  prophets,  con- 
cerning the  Messiah,  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  who  was  to 
rise  with  healing  in  his  wings,"  was  perfectly  assured  that 
nothing  less  than  Omnipotence  itself  could  produce  such 
wonders ;  and  thence,  like  many  others  of  his  countrymen, 
concluded  that  Jesus  of  a  truth  was  the  Son,  and  sent  of 
God,  which  last  term  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  Messiah. 

But  scruples  still  arose  in  his  mind ;  therefore,  to  obviate 
which,  and  solve  these  perplexing  doubts,  Nicodemus  re- 
solved on  an  interview  with  the  blessed  Jesus ;  but  choosing 
to  conceal  his  visit  from  the  other  members  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
who  were  greatly  averse  to  his  person  and  doctrine,  he  chose 
the  night  as  most  convenient  for  that  purpose. 

His  salutation  of  the  mighty  Redeemer  of  Israel  was  this: 
"  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from  God ; 
for  no  man  can  do  the  miracles  that  thou  doest,  except  God 
be  with  him." 

The  Saviour,  waving  all  formality  and  circumlocution, 
which  tend  to  no  real  profit,  immediately  preaches  to  this 
noted  Rabbi  the  first  great  doctrine  of  Christianity,  by  un- 
folding the  mysterious  system  of  Regeneration. 

The  Divine  Preacher,  who  spake  as  no  man  ever  spake, 
likewise  labors  to  eradicate  the  favorite  principle  of  the  Jews, 
— I  mean  that  of  confining  all  blessings,  temporal  and  eter- 
nal, to  their  own  nation  and  people, — as  well  as  to  show  the 
vanity  of  their  expecting  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah  in 
pomp  and  magnificence. 

To  effect  this  glorious  design,  lie  laj^s  open  to  the  Rabbi, 
that  it  was  agreeable  both  to  the  doctrines  of  Moses,  as  well 
as  the  will  of  God,  that  the  Redeemer,  in  this  state  of  mor- 
tality, should  be  exposed  to  poverty  and  distress  of  every 
kind ;  that  his  conquests  were  not  to  be  of  a  temporal  nature, 
over  the  hearts  and  wills  of  men ;  that  his  throne  was  not  to 
be  established  in  the  earthly,  but  the  heavenly  Jerusalem ; 
previous  to  which,  he  was  to  shed  his  blood,  as,  by  virtue  of 


CHRIST.  139 

the  same,  all,  of  every  nation  and  kingdom  throughout  the 
earth,  might  pass  into  the  heavenly  world,  and  there  for  ever  ^ 
enjoy  that  perfection  of  bliss,  which,  through  his  sufferings, 
w\as  provided  for  them  by  God  himself,  to  all  eternity. 

This  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  Christianity;  this  is  the 
sum  and  substance  of  what  our  blessed  Lord  preached  to 
Nicodemus,  that  great  ruler  and  teacher  of  the  Jews, — a  ser- 
mon comprehending  the  whole  of  what  is  necessary  to  be 
taught,  notwithstanding  religion  is  at  this  day  rent  to  pieces 
by  sectaries,  each  of  which  invent  some  new-fangled  doctrine, 
suggested  by  ignorance  or  presumption,  or  both  united. 

It  appears  from  the  future  conduct  of  Nicodemus,  that 
instead  of  supposing  that  Jesus  was  merely  a  teacher  come 
from  God,  he  was  fully  convinced  that  he  was  the  Messiah, 
the  Redeemer  of  Israel,  for  he  afterward  constantly  espoused 
his  cause  in  the  great  council  of  the  nation ;  and  w^hen  his 
countrymen  put  him  to  an  ignominious  death,  he,  together 
with  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  conveyed  him  to  burial,  when  all 
others  had  forsaken  him. 

The  time  of  the  passover  at  Jerusalem  being  expired, 
Jesus,  together  with  his  disciples,  withdrew  into  the  remote 
parts  of  Judea,  where  he  continued  a  considerable  time, 
preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  baptizing  the  new 
converts. 

Great  numbers  resorted  to  him,  attracted  by  curiosity,  to 
see  the  great  miracles  which  fame  reported  he  ^aily  wrought. 
The  success  of  his  ministry  exciting  the  envy  of  the  hypo- 
critical tribe  of  Pharisees,  our  blessed  Lord  thought  proper 
to  retire  into  Galilee,  in  order  to  promote  the  design  of  his 
mission  in  those  parts. 

In  the  course  of  his  journey,  being  weary  with  traveling 
in  so  warm  a  country,  and  very  thirsty,  he  sat  down  in 
Samaria,  by  a  celebrated  well,  given  by  the  old  patriarch, 
Jacob,  to  his  son  Joseph,  while  his  disciples  were  gone  to 
the  city  to  procure  provisions. 

While  the  humble  Jesus  sat  by  the  well-side,  a  woman,  a 
native  of  the  country,  came  with  her  pitcher  to  fetch  water, 
and  our  Lord  requested  of  her  to  give  him  to  drink.     The 


140 


CHRIST. 


appearance  of  Jesus  astonislied  the  woman,  because  slie  knew 
him  to  be  a  Jew,  and  the  Samaritans  were  held  in  the  utmost 
contempt  by  those  people,  who,  indeed,  arrogated  a  prefer- 
ence to  all  nations  upon  earth.  But,  though  she  knew  him 
to  be  a  Jew,  she  knew  not  that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  full 
of  grace  and  truth,  divested  of  human  prejudices,  and  the 
very  essence  of  humility  and  every  virtue. 

As  the  design  of  his  mission  and  incarnation  was  to  pro- 
mote the  real  happiness  of  mankind,  he  embraced  every 
opportunity  of  enforcing  his  salutary  doctrines,  and  there- 
fore, though  his  thirst  was  extreme,  he  delayed  its  gratifica- 
tion, in  order  to  inform  this  woman,  though  of  an  infamous 
character,  of  the  means  by  which  she  might  obtain  living 
water,  or,  in  other  words,  eternal  life. 

As  the  best  method  to  effect  this  purpose,  he  gave  her  to 
understand  that,  had  she  known  the  character  of  the  suppli- 
cant, she  would  have  eagerly  satisfied  his  desire,  and  been 
rewarded  by  a  gift  the  most  invaluable,  even  living  water, 
issuing  from  the  well  of  eternal  salvation. 

The  woman,  taking  his  words  in  the  common  acceptation, 
imagining  that  he  suggested  his  power  of  supplying  her  with 
water  flowing  from  a  perpetual  spring,  which,  in  that  parched 
climate  appeared  impossible,  demanded  of  him  if  he  was 
vested  with  a  power  superior  to  their  father,  Jacob,  who  dug 
this  well,  drank  out  of  it  with  his  family,  and  left  it  for  the 
benefit  of  posterity. 

The  Saviour  and  friend  of  mankind,  still  benign  in  his 
purpose  toward  this  poor  sinner,  replied,  "That  all  who 
drank  of  the  water  of  Jacob's  well  would  thirst  again,  being 
but  a  temporary  allay  of  a  desire  incident  to  human  nature ; 
whereas  those  who  drank  of  the  water  Avhich  he  was  ready 
to  dispense,  should  never  thirst;  because  that  water  flowed 
from  the  inexhaustible  fountain  of  Divine  grace,  and  could 
not  be  drained  but  with  immensity  itself." 

While  Jesus  continued  talking  with  the  woman,  his  disi- 
ples  returned,  and  approached  him  at  the  very  time  when 
he  told  the  woman  that  he  was  the  Messiah. 

Though  they  were  astonished  at  his  condescension  in  con- 


CHRIST.  141 

versing  with  an  inhabitant  of  Samaria,  and  even  of  instruct- 
ing her  in  the  doctrines  of  religion,  none  presumed  to  ask 
him  why  he  conversed  with  one  who  was  an  enemy  to  the 
Jews,  and  of  the  tem|}le  at  Jerusalem.  But  the  woman, 
hearing  Jesus  call  himself  the  Messiah,  left  her  pitcher,  and 
went  into  the  city,  to  publish  the  glad  tidings,  that  the  great 
'Deliverer  of  mankind  was  then  sitting  by  the  well  of  Jacob, 
and  had  told  her  all  the  secret  transactions  of  her  life. 

Many  of  the  people  were  so  affected  at  the  words  of  the 
woman,  that  they  were  fully  pursuaded  that  Jesus  could  be  no 
other  than  the  great  Messiah ;  accordingly  their  first  request 
was,  that  he  would  deign  to  take  up  his  residence  in  their 
city ;  the  compassionate  Eedeemer  of  the  human  race  so  far 
complied,  as  to  stay  with  them  two  days,  an  interval  which 
he  spent  in  preaching  to  them  the  kingdom  of  God ;  so  that 
the  greatest  part  of  the  city  embraced  the  doctrine  of  the 
gospel,  and,  at  his  departure,  said  unto  the  woman,  "Now 
we  believe ;  not  because  of  thy  saying,  for  we  have  heard 
him  ourselves,  and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  the  world." 

Having  accomplished  his  gracious  design  in  Samaria,  Jesus 
continued  his  journey  to  Galilee,  to  exercise  his  ministry, 
and  preach  there  the  kingdom  of  God ;  telling  his  disciples 
that  the  time  was  now  accomplished  which  had  long  been 
predetermined  by  Omnipotence  for  erecting  the  happy  king- 
dom of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  the  Mosaic  ceremonies  being  no 
longer  obligatory. 

Our  Lord  had  performed  several  miracles  at  Jerusalem 
during  the  passover,  at  which  the  inhabitants  of  Galilee 
were  present.  His  preaching  was,  therefore,  at  first,  attended 
with  great  success;  for  they  listened  attentively  to  his  doc- 
trine, and  received  it  with  great  kindness  and  courtesy, 
especially  the  people  of  Cana,  where  he  had  turned  the 
water  into  wine. 

During  his  residence  in  that  city,  a  nobleman  of  Caper- 
naum came  to  him,  requesting,  with  great  humility  and 
reverence,  that  he  would  come  and  heal  his  son,  who  was  at 
the  p^int  of  death      Our  blessed  Saviour  readily  complied 


142  CHBIST. 

with  tlie  latter  part  of  this  request,  but  to  remove  a  prejudice 
they  had  conceived,  that  it  was  necessary  to  be  personally 
present  in  order  to  restore  the  sick  person  to  health,  refused 
to  go  down  to  Capernaum,  dismissing  the  father  with  this 
assurance  that  his  son  was  restored  to  health,  "Go  thy  way ; 
thy  son  liveth." 

The  nobleman  obeyed  the  word  of  Jesus,  and  immediately 
departed  to  his  own  house ;  bat  before  his  arrival,  he  was 
met  by  his  servants  with  the  joyful  news  that  his  son  was 
recovered.  On  this,  the  father  inquired  at  what  time  they 
perceived  an  alteration  for  the  better  ;  and  from  their  answer, 
was  satisfied  that  immediately  after  the  words  were  spoken 
by  Jesus,  the  fever  left  him,  and  he  was  recovered  in  a  mirac- 
ulous manner. 

This  amazing  instance  of  his  power  and  goodness  abund- 
antly convinced  the  nobleman  and  his  family  that  Jesus  was 
the  true  Messiah,  the  great  prophet  so  long  promised  to  the 
world. 

After  some  stay  in  the  city  and  neighborhood  of  Cana, 
Jesus  went  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  spent  the  greatest  part 
of  his  youth,  and,  as  his  ciistom  was,  went  to  the  syna'gogue 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  read  that  celebrated  prediction  of 
the  Messiah  by  the  prophet  Isaiah :  "  The  spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight 
to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  those  that  are  bruised,  to  preach 
the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord." 

It  should  be  remembered  that  our  blessed  Saviour  read 
this  passage  in  the  original  Hebrew,  which  was  then  a  dead 
language,  and  as  he  had  never  been  taught  letters,  could  do 
it  only  by  inspiration  from  above.  But  he  did  more:  he 
explained  the  passage  with  such  strength  of  reason  and 
beauty  of  expression,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Nazareth,  who 
well  knew  he  had  never  been  initiated  into  the  rudiments  of 
learning,  heard  him  with  astonishment.  But  as  he  had  per- 
formed no  miracle  in  that  city,  they  were  offended  at  him. 

Perhaps  they  thought  the  place  of  his  residence  should 


CHRIST.  143 

have  been  his  peculiar  care ;  and  as  lie  could  with  a  single 
word  heal  the  sick  at  a  distance,  not  a  single  person  in  Naza- 
reth should  have'  been  afflicted  with  any  kind  of  disease. 

That  they  really  entertained  sentiments  of  this  kind,  seem^ 
plain  from  our  Saviour's  own  words :  "  Ye  will  surely  say  to 
me.  Physician,  heal  thyself;  whatever  thou  hast  done  in 
Capernaum,  do  also  here  in  thy  own  country;"  evidently 
alluding  to  the  great  and  benevolent  miracle  he  had  wrought 
on  the  nobleman's  son. 

But  the  holy  Jesus,  by  enumerating  the  miracles  Elijah 
had  done  in  behalf  of  the  widow  of  Sarepta,  who  was  a  hea- 
then, and  the  inhabitant  of  an  idolatrous  citj^,  in  the  time  of 
famine,  when  many  widows  in  Israel  perished  with  hunger ; 
and  of  Naaman  the  Syrian,  who  was  cured  of  his  leprosy  by 
the  prophet  Elisha,  when  numbers  of  Jews,  afflicted  with  the 
same  loathsome  disease,  were  suffered  to  remain  in  their 
uncleanness,  sufliciently  proved  that  the  prophets  had  on 
some  extraordinary  occasions  wrought  miracles  in  favor  of 
those  whom  the  Israelites,  from  a  fond  conceit  of  their  being 
the  peculiar  favorites  of  heaven,  judged  unworthy  of  such 
marks  of  peculiar  favor.  The  council  were  so  incensed  at 
this  reply,  that,  forgetting  the  sanctity  of  the  Sabbath,  they 
hurried  him  through  the  streets,  "  to  the  brow  of  the  hill 
whereon  the  city  was  built,"  intending  to  cast  him  headlong 
down  the  precipice;  but  the  Son  of  God  defeated  their  cruel 
intentions,  by  miraculously  rendering  himself  invisible,  and 
thus  withdrawing  from  the  fury  of  these  wretched  people. 

The  holy  Jesus,  aggrieved  by  the  cruel  Nazarenes,  departed 
from  them,  and  visited  Capernaum,  the  capital  of  Galilee, 
which,  from  being  built  on  the  borders  oi  the  lake  of  Genes- 
areth,  was  a  place  highly  convenient  for  his  designs;  for 
besides  the  numerous  inhabitants  of  that  city,  the  trading 
towns  on  the  lake  were  crowded  with  strangers,  who,  after 
hearing  the  doctrine  of  the  gospel  preached  by  the  great 
Redeemer  of  mankind,  could  not  fail  to  spread,  in  their 
respective  countries,  the  happy  tidings  of  salvation. 

If  any  should  inquire  why  he  preferred  Capernaum,  we 
repl}^,  because  he  was  certain  of  being  favorably  received  by 


144  CHRIST. 

• 

tlie  inhabitants  of  tliat  city.  He  had  gained  the  friendship 
of  the  principal  family,  by  restoring  to  health  a  favorite 
child,  who,  to  all  human  appearance,  was  just  sinking  into 
the  chambers  of  the  grave.  Nor  was  this  family  the  only 
friends  he  had  in  that  city :  so  stupendous  a  miracle  could 
not  fail  of  procuring  the  love  and  esteem  of  all  the  relations 
of  that  noble  family ;  besides,  so  surprising  and  benevolent 
a  miracle  must  have  conciliated  the  respect  of  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  Capernaum,  who  could  not  be  ignorant  of  so  remark- 
able an  event. 

And,  accordingly,  our  Saviour  spent  here,  and  in  other 
places  bordering  on  the  lake,  a  great  part  of  the  time  of  his 
public  life  ;  so  that  the  inhabitants  of  these  parts  enjoyed  a 
considerable  share  of  the  blessed  company  and  divine  instruc- 
tions of  the  Son  of  God, 

While  he  tarried  at  this  place,  he  usually  taught  in  the 
sjaiagogues  on  the  Sabbath  daj^,  preaching  with  such  energy 
of  power,  as  greatly  astonished  the  whole  congregation. 

He  did  not,  however,  constantly  confine  himself  to  that 
city;  the  adjacent  country  was  often  blessed  with  his  pres 
ence,  and  cheered  with  the  heavenly  words  of  his  mouth. 

The  multitudes  which  flocked  to  him  from  every  quarter, 
moved  his  compassion  toward  those  Avho  Avere  bewildered  in 
the  darkness  of  ignorance,  and  determined  him  to  j^reach  to 
them  "  the  words  of  eternal  life." 

For  this  blessed  purpose  he  ascended  a  mountain  in  the 
neighborhood,  and  placing  himself  on  an  eminence,  from 
whence  he  could  be  heard  by  the  throngs  of  people  attending 
him,  he  inculcated,  in  an  amazingly  pathetic  manner  the 
most  important  points  of  religion. 

He  opened  his  excellent  sermon  with  the  doctrine  of  hap- 
piness ;  a  subject  which  the  teachers  of  wisdom  have  always 
considered  as  the  principal  object  in  morals,  and  employed 
their  utmost  abilities  to  convey  a  clear  idea  of  it  to  their 
disciples,  but  differed  very  remarkably  with  regard  to  the 
particulars  in  which  it  consisted. 

The  Jews,  in  general,  were  persuaded  that  the  enjoyments 
of  sense  were   the   sovereiQ;n  s;ood,  and  even  some  of  the 


CHRIST.  140 

disciples  themselves  for  a  time  retained  the  notion  that  a 
golden,  instead  of  a  sceptre  of  righteousness,  would  be  the 
sceptre  of  the  Eedeemer's  kingdom. 

Our  Lord  and  Master,  therefore,  in  order  to  show  his 
hearers  in  general,  and  his  disciples  in  particular,  the  gross- 
ness  of  their  error,  declared  that  the  highest  happiness  of 
man  consisted  in  the  favor  and  image  of  God ;  that  these 
will  make  men  unspeakably  happy,  even  in  tribulation. 
You  congratulate  the  rich  and  the  great,  said  the  great 
Redeemer,  but  "  blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,"  those  humble 
souls  that,  deeply  conscious  of  their  guilt  and  ignorance,  can 
quietly  yield  to  Divine  teachings  and  Divine  disposals  ;  for 
however  they  may  be  disposed,  "  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of 
Heaven." 

You  admire  the  gay  and  jovial  part  of  mankind,  and 
please  yourselves  with  the  hopes  ot  joy  and  festivity ;  but 
I  say  unto  you,  "  blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall 
be  comforted." 

Having  shown  in  what  true  happiness  consisted,  oar  S? 
viour  addressed  himself  to  his  disciples,  and  explained  their 
duty  as  the  teachers  appointed  to  guide  others  in  the  paths 
that  lead  to  eternal  felicity  ;  exciting  them  to  diligence  in 
dispensing  the  salutary  influences  of  their  doctrine  and 
example,  that  their  hearers  might  honor  and  praise  the 
great  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth,  who  had  been  so  kind  to 
the  children  of  men. 

As  his  definition  of  happiness  was  very  different  from 
what  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  hear  from  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  he  thought  proper  to  declare,  that  he  was  not 
come  to  destroy  the  moral  precepts  contained  in  the  law  or 
the  prophets,  but  to  fulfill  or  confirm  them. 

Nothing  is  so  steadfast  as  the  eternal  truths  of  morality  ; 

the  heavens  may  pass  away,  and  the  whole  frame  of  nature 

be   dissolved,  but  the  rule  of   righteousness   shall   remain 

immutable  and  immortal.     And,   therefore,  he  ordered  his 

disciples,    on   the    severest   penalties,  to    enforce,    both   by 

preaching    and   example,  the   strict   observance  of  all   the 

moral  precepts  contained  in  the  sacred  writings ;  and    that 

10 


146  CHRIST. 

m  a  mucli  greater  latitude  than  they  were  taken  by  the 
teachers  of  Israel.  And  in  consideration  of  the  frailties  of 
hnman  nature,  taught  them  that  excellent  form  of  prayer, 
which  has  been  used  by  christians  of  all  denominations  to 
this  very  day, — the  Lord's  Prayer. 

Hoavenly-mindedness  was  the  next  thing  inculcated  by 
the  blessed  Jesus ;  and  this  he  recommended  with  a  peculiar 
earnestness,  because  the  Jewish  doctors  were  in  general 
strangers  to  this  virtue,  in  which  he  was  desirous  his  fol- 
lowers should  be  clothed,  as  being  the  most  excellent  orna 
ment  for  a  teacher  of  righteousness. 

Lest  they  should  imagine  it  was  possible  to  be  both 
heavenly-minded  and  covetous  at  the  same  time,  he  assured 
them  that  this  was  full  as  absurd  as  to  imagine  a  person 
could,  at  the  same  time,  serve  two  masters  of  opposite 
characters.  "  No  man  can  serve  two  masters  ;  for  either  he 
will  hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  else  he  will  hold  to 
the  one  and  despise  the  other.  Ye  can  not  serve  God  and 
mammon." 

Having  enforced  these  and  many  other  heavenly  pre- 
cepts, he  exhorted  them  to  place  an  humble  dependence 
on  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  strive  to  practice 
the  precepts  of  religion,  however  difficult  the  task  might 
appear. 

He  then  closed  his  sermon  with  the  parable  of  the  houses 
built  on  different  foundations ;  intimating  that  the  bare 
knowledge,  or  the  simple  hearing  of  the  divinest  lessons 
of  the  truth  ever  delivered — nay,  even  the  belief  of  these 
instructions,  without  the  practice  of  them — is  of  no  manner 
of  importance. 

The  way  of  life  which  our  blessed  Eedeemer  has  marked 
out  for  us,  in  such  precepts  as  those  in  the  sermon  on  the 
Mount,  may,  indeed,  to  corrupt  nature,  appear  rugged  and 
narrow,  and  the  gate  straight  through  which  we  are  to  pass ; 
but  let  us  encourage  ourselves  against  all  difficulties,  by 
considering  that  immortal  life  and  glory  to  which  they  infal- 
libly lead. 

Then  shall  we,  doubtless,  prefer  the  most  painful  way  of 


OHEIST.  147 

piety  and  virtue,  tLough  with  yet  fewer  companions  than  we 
might  reasonably  expect,  to  all  those  flowery  and  frequented 
paths  of  vice,  which  lead  to  the  chambers  of  death. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CURES  THE  LEPROSY  Am  PALSY;  CASTS  OUT  A  DEYIL;  CONFIRMS  HIS  mS- 

SIOX  BY  PRODUCING  A  MIRACL'LOUS  DRAUGHT  OP  PISHES;  STILLS 

THE  BOISTEROUS  WAVES ;  CHOOSES  HIS  TWELYE  DISCIPLES  TO 

BE  HIS  COMPANIONS. 

FTER  finishing  his  excellent  discourse,  the  great 
Preacher  of  Israel  came  down  from  the  moun- 
tain, surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  people,  who 
had  listened  with  astonishment  to  the  doctrines 
he  delivered,  which  were  soon  confirmed  by 
divers  miracles. 

A  leper  met  him  in  his  way  to  Capernaum,  and  being 
doubtless  acquainted  with  the  wondrous  works  he  had 
already  performed,  threw  himself  with  great  humility  before 
the  Son  of  God,  using  this  remarkable  expression:  "Lord, 
if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean." 

The  species  of  leprosy  common  among  the  Jews,  and  other 
eastern  nations,  was  equally  nauseous  and  infectious ;  but 
this  was  so  far  from  preventing  the  blessed  Jesus  from  ap- 
proaching so  loathsome  an  object,  that  it  increased  his  pity; 
he  even  touched  him  ;  but  instead  of  being  polluted  himself, 
the  leper  was  instantly  cleansed,  and  he  departed,  glorifying 
God. 

The  evangelist  adds,  that  Jesus  forbade  him  to  tell  any 
person  what  had  been  done,  but  repair  immediately  to  the 
priest,  and  offer  the  gift  commanded  by  Moses. 

Having  performed  the  cure  on  the  leper,  our  blessed  Jesus 
proceeded  to  Capernaum  ;  but  as  he  entered  the  city,  he  was 
met  by  a  Eoman  centurion,  who  represented  to  him,  in  the 
most  pathetic  manner,  the  deplorable  condition  of  his  ser- 
vant, who  was  grievously  afilicted  with  a  palsy.     The  com- 


148 


CHRIST. 


passionate  Eedeemer  of  tlie  world  listened  attentively  to  liis 
complaint,  and  immediately  told  him  lie  would  come  and 
heal  him. 

The  centurion  thought  this  too  great  a  condescension  to 
one  who  was  not  of  the  seed  of  Jacob,  and  therefore  told 
him  he  did  not  mean  that  he  should  give  himself  the  trouble 
of  going  to  his  house,  which  was  an  honor  he  had  not  the 
least  reason  to  expect,  being  confident  that  his  word  alone 
would  be  sufficient ;  disease  and  devils  being  as  much  sub- 
ject to  his  command,  as  his  soldiers  were  to  him. 

Our  Lord  was  not  ignorant  of  the  centurion's  jQiith,  or 
the  basis  on  which  it  was  built ;  he  well  knew  the  thoughts' 
of  his  heart,  long  before  he  uttered  his  request ;  and  to  make 
his  faith  the  more  conspicuous,  he  gave  it  the  praise  it  so 
justly  deserved:  "Yeril}^,  I  say  unto  you,  I  have  not  found 
so  great  faith — no,  not  in  all  Israel." 

This  exalted  faith  induced  the  blessed  Jesus  to  declare  the 
gracious  intentions  of  the  Almighty  Father  with  regard  to 
the  Gentiles, — namely :  that  he  would  as  readily  accept  their 
faith  as  that  of  the  Jews,  and  place  them  with  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  while  those 
who  boasted  of  being  the  offspring  of  these  great  patri- 
archs, but  fell  far  short  of  the  heathens  in  faith,  should 
be  excluded  from  the  blissful  scats  ot  Paradise. 

Having  thus  addressed  the  multitude,  the  Saviour  turned 
himself  to  the  centurion,  and  said,  "Go  thy  way;  and  as 
thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it  done  unto  thee."  And  the  evan- 
gelist adds,  "  his  servant  was  healed  in  the  self-same  hour." 

On  the  succeeding  Sabbath  our  Saviour  went  into  the 
Jewish  synagogue  at  Capernaum,  and  taught  the  people, 
delivering  his  instructions  in  so  graceful  and  elegant  a  man- 
ner that  they  were  all  astonished;  and,  to  increase  their 
admiration,  one  of  the  congregation,  possessed  with  an 
unclean  spirit,  cried  out  in  a  terrible  manner,  "  Let  us  alone ; 
what  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  art 
thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
Holy  One  of  God." 

But  the  blessed  Jesus,  who  wanted  the  testimony  of  no 


CHRIST.  149 

such  confessors,  commanded  him  to  keep  silence,  and  imme- 
diately to  come  out  of  the  man ;  which  command  the  evil 
spirit  instantly  obeyed,  to  the  great  surprise  and  astonish- 
ment of  the  spectators. 

The  fame  of  this  miracle  was  soon  spread  over  the  neigh- 
boring country.  He  had  before  healed  the  sick,  and  done 
many  wonderful  things ;  but  to  command  with  authority  the 
unclean  spirits  to  quit  their  residence,  and  to  see  these 
enemies  of  mankind  readily  obey  his  voice,  lilled  men  with 
astonisliment,  and  abundantly  convinced  them  that  he  was 
filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Having  performed  this  astonishing  miracle  in  the  syna- 
gogue, our  Lord  retired  to  Peter's  house,  where  he  found  his 
wife's  mother  sick  of  a  fever;  but  on  his  taking  her  by  the 
hand,  she  was  immediately  restored  to  her  former  health, 
and  arose  from  the  bed,  and  "  ministered  unto  him." 

The  evangelist,  St.  Luke,  in  his  account  of  this  miraculous 
cure,  tells  us,  that  "he  rebuked  the  fever,"  to  intimate  his 
authority  over  all  diseases ;  being  analogous  to  the  figura- 
tive expressions  in  Scripture,  which  not  only  represent  all 
inanimate  creatures  as  servants  of  the  Almighty,  but  dis- 
eases, famine,  pestilence,  and  the  like,  as  executioners,  waiting 
on  him  to  inflict  punishment  on  rebellious  sinners  :  "  Before 
him  went  the  pestilence,  and  burning  diseases  went  forth 
at  his  feet." 

l^he  fame  of  these  miracles  was  soon  spread  over  the  city; 
and  as  soon  as  the  Sabbath  was  over,  which  was  ended  at 
the  setting  of  the  sun,  the  whole  city  was  gathered  together 
about  Peter's  house,  and  with  them  great  numbers  of  sick 
persons,  and  those  who  were  possessed  with  devils. 

The  sight  of  so  many  objects  in  distress  excited  the  pity 
of  this  heavenly  Physician,  so  that  he  immediately  healed 
them  all ;  and  thus  was  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  fulfilled : 
"  Himself  took  our  infirmities  and  bore  our  sicknesses." 

But  the  vast  concourse  of  people  that  now  gathered  round 
him  in  Capernaum  began  to  be  troublesome,  and  he  retired 
into  a  desert,  whither  the  multitude  soon  followed  him,  and 
entreated   him  never  to   depart  from   them.     But   as   this 


150  CHRIST. 

request  was  inconsistent  with  the  design  of  his  mission,  he 
for  the  first  time  refused  their  request,  "  and  preached  in  the 
synagogues  of  Galilee." 

Having  spread  his  glorious  doctrine  throughout  this  place, 
he  returned  to  Capernaum,  followed  by  such  numbers  of 
people  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  step  into  Peter's  ship, 
from  Avhence  he  taught  the  multitude,  who  stood  on  the  shore 
listening  with  great  attention  to  his  words. 

Having  concluded  his  discourse,  he  turned  himself  to 
Simon  Peter,  desiring  him  to  launch  out  further  from  the 
shore,  and  let  down  his  net ;  on  which  the  disciple  told  him 
of  the  unsuccessful  pains  they  had  taken  during  the  whole 
night ;  but  added,  that  he  would,  in  obedience  to  his  com- 
mand, make  one  trial  more. 

Nor  had  he  any  cause  to  repent ;  for  the  net  was  no  sooner 
in  the  lake  that  they  found  it  so  full  of  fishes,  that  it  was 
in  danger  of  breaking;  the  draught  being  so  large  they  were 
compelled  to  call  "  unto  their  partners  in  another  ship  that 
they  should  come  and  help  them.  And  they  came  and 
filled  both  ships." 

This  success,  after  such  ill  fortune,  astonished  Peter,  who 
falling  down  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  cried  out,  "  Depart  from 
me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  0  Lord." 

He  was  conscious  of  the  many  sins  he  had  been  guilty  of, 
and  therefore  afraid  of  being  in  the  compan}'-  of  so  divine  a 
person,  lest  some  offense  might  have  exposed  him  to  more 
than  ordinary  chastisement. 

But  the  benevolent  Eedeemer  of  mankind  allayed  his  fears 
by  telling  him  that  from  henceforth  the  employment  of  him 
and  his  companions  should  be  far  more  noble ;  they  should 
"  catch  men,"  that  is,  they  should  turn  them  from  the  crooked 
paths  ot  iniquity,  to  the  strait  road  leading  to  the  heavenly 
mansions. 

This  miracle  was  considered  by  the  disciples  as  a  plainer 
manifestation  of  his  being  the  Son  of  God,  than  those  they 
had  seen  him  perform  on  the  sick  in  the  city  and  neighbor- 
hood of  Capernaum. 

It  was  a  received  opinion  among  the  Jews,  that  all  good 


CHKIST.  151 

men,  bj  prayers  and  laying  their  hands  on  the  sick,  were  able 
to  cure  certain  diseases,  and  even  cast  out  devils,  but  that  the 
creatures  inhabiting  the  element  of  air  or  water,  Avere  subject 
only  to  the  command  of  Omnipotence  himself,  consequently, 
the  power  shown  by  our  blessed  Saviour  on  this  occasion 
undeniably  proved  him  to  be  divine. 

And,  accordingly,  the  demonstration  of  his  power  rendered 
those  principles,  for  the  future,  absolutely  devoted  to  his 
will ;  and  in  the  greatness  of  their  admiration,  they  aban- 
doned every  thing,  and  followed  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

The  disciples  being  thus  attached  to  their  Divine  Master, 
followed  him  through  the  cities  of  Galilee,  where,  according 
to  his  usual  custom,  he  preached  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  confirmed  the  doctrine  he  delivered  with  aston- 
ishing miracles. 

In  one  of  the  cities  through  which  he  passed,  he  found  "  a 
man  full  of  leprosy,  who,  seeing  Jesus,  fell  on  his  face,  and 
besought  him,  saying.  Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me 
clean." 

*  It  was  the  custom  in  Judea  for  the  priests  to  banish  from 
society  those  persons  who  were  affected  with  contagious  lep- 
rosy. The  disease  of  this  person,  therefore,  was  of  a  less 
pestilential  kind,  as  he  was  suffered  to  enjoy  the  conversation 
of  men.  His  case,  however,  excited  the  pity  of  the  compas- 
sionate Jesus,  who  immediately  cleansed  him,  and  ordered 
him  to  repair  to  Jerusalem ;  and,  after  showing  himself  to 
the  priest,  offer  the  gifts  commanded  by  Moses ;  giving  the 
same  admonition  he  had  given  to  others — not  to  tell  any  man 
what  had  been  done  for  him. 

But  the  blessing  was  so  great  and  unexpected,  that,  instead 
of  concealing,  he  published  every  where  the  great  things 
Jesus  had  done  for  him ;  which  brought  such  crowds  to  the 
Son  of  God,  that  he  was  obliged  to  retire  from  Capernaum 
into  the  wilderness,  to  refresh  his  body  with  rest,  and  his 
spirit  with  prayer  and  meditation. 

The  generality  of  commentators  suppose  that  this  leper, 
and  the  other  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  are  one, 
and  the  same  person  ;  but  this  is  a  mistake. 


152  CHRIST. 

The  former  was  cured  in  the  fields,  the  latter  in  the  city 
After  cleansing  the  first,  Jesus  went  to  Capernaum,  and 
healed  the  centurion's  servant;  but  after  curing  the  latter, 
he  retired  into  the  wilderness,  to  shun  the  prodigious  crowds, 
which  soon  gathered  round  him,  from  the  leper's  publishing 
every  where  the  miracle  Jesus  had  wrought  for  him. 

But  he  could  not  long  enjoy  the  tranquillity  he  sought,  even 
in  the  thirsty  Avaste ;  the  people  soon  discovered  the  place  of 
his  retreat,  and  flocked  to  him  from  every  quarter. 

Our  blessed  Lord,  finding  all  his  endeavors  to  conceal  him- 
self in  the  desert  would  be  vain,  ordered  his  disciples  to 
accompany  him  to  the  other  side  of  the  lake,  upon  which 
a  certain  scribe,  who  happened  to  be  present,  declared 
he  would  follow  him :  but  Jesus,  who  well  knew  that  his 
desire  was  only  to  gain  the  profits  and  advantages  of  an 
earthly  kingdom,  which  he  supposed  the  Messiah  would 
establish,  told  him  that  if  he  intended  nothing  more,  by  fol- 
lowing him,  than  to  improve  his  worldly  wealth,  he  would 
find  himself  wretchedly  mistaken.  "  The  foxes  have  holes," 
said  the  blessed  Jesus  to  this  teacher  of  Israel,  "  and  the 
birds  of  the  air  have  nests ;  but  the  Son  of  Man  hath  not 
where  to  lay  his  head." 

The  disciples  having  prepared  the  ship,  took  on  board  their 
Master,  and  departed  for  the  other  side  of  the  lake,  attended 
by  many  boats  full  of  people,  who  were  desirous  of  hearing 
his  heavenly  discourses,  and  of  being  spectators  of  his  aston- 
ishing miracles. 

But  Jesus  being  fatigued  witli  the  labors  of  the  day,  sat 
himself  down  at  the  stern  of  the  ship,  and  fell  asleep.  The 
weather,  which,  till  now,  had  been  calm  and  serene,  suddenly 
changed. 

A  terrible  storm  came  on,  and  the  rising  waves  dashed 
impetuously  against  the  ship,  threatening  every  moment  to 
bury  them  all  in  the  bowels  of  the  deep. 

The  darkness  of  the  night  increased  the  horrors  of  the 
tempest.  Now  they  were  carried  on  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tainous waves,  and  seemed  to  touch  the  skies ;  then  plunged 
to  the  bottom  of  the  deep,  while  the  foaming  billows  roared 


CHRIST.  153 

horribly  above  them.  In  vain  the  disciples  exerted  their 
utmost  strength  ;  the  storm  continued  to  increase,  and  baffled 
all  the  efforts  of  human  strength.  The  waves  broke  over 
the  ship,  the  waters  rushed  in,  and  she  began  to  sink. 

All  hopes  of  escaping  were  vanished  ;  despair  seized  every 
individual,  and  they  were  on  the  brink  of  perishing,  when 
they  ran  to  Jesus,  crying  out,  "  Master,  Master,  we  perish !" 
Their  vehement  cries  roused  him  from  his  sleep.  He  raised 
his  hand,  so  often  employed  in  acts  of  mercy  and  benevo- 
lence ;  and,  with  a  stern  and  awful  voice,  rebuked  the  bois- 
terous elements.  The  raging  sea  instantly  obeyed  his  com- 
mand. The  aerial  torrent  stopped  short  in  its  impetuous 
course,  and  became  silent''  as  the  grave,  while  the  mountain- 
ous waves  sunk  at  once  into  their  beds,  and  the  surface  of 
the  deep  became  as  smooth  as  polished  marble. 

The  disciples  seemed  to  have  forgotten  the  power  of  their 
Master,  and  when  human  assistance  failed,  to  have  abandoned 
all  hopes  of  life.  The  blessed  Jesus,  therefore,  very  justly 
rebuked  them:  "Why  are  ye  so  fearful?  0  ye  of  httle 
faith!"  Why  should  ye  doubt  my  power  to  protect  you? 
The  voyage  was  undertaken  at  my  command,  and  therefore 
you  should  have  been  confident  that  I  would  not  suffer  you 
to  perish  in  it. 

Soon  after  the  storm  was  allayed,  they  arrived  in  the 
country  of  Gadara ;  and  on  their  landing,  two  men  possessed 
with  devils  came  from  the  tombs  to  meet  Jesus.  One  of 
them,  who  was  more  furious  than  the  other,  had  been  bound 
with  chains  and  fetters,  but  to  no  purpose,  they  being 
always  broken  with  great  fury ;  so  that  no  man  attempted 
further  to  restrain  him. 

Being  therefore  at  liberty,  he  shunned  the  society  of  men, 
wandered  day  and  night  in  desert  places,  among  the  sepul- 
chres or  caverns  where  the  dead  were  deposited,  crying  and 
making  the  most  dismal  complaints,  and  cutting  himself  with 
stones. 

The  disciples  were  terrified  at  the  approach  of  these  furious 
mortals  ;  but  Jesus  soon  dissipated  their  fears,  commanding, 
while  the  men  were  at  a  distance,  the  devils  to  come  out  of  them. 


154  CHRIST. 

Tlie  heavenly  mandate  was  no  sooner  given,  tban  they  fell 
on  their  faces,  crjdng  out,  "  What  have  I  to  do  with  thee, 
Jesus,  thou  Son  of  the  most  high  God  ?  Art  thou  come 
hither  to  torment  us  before  the  time?"  "I  adjure  thee  by 
God,  that  thou  torment  me  not." 

Jesus  being  willing  that  the  torment  suffered  by  these  mis- 
erable men  should  be  known  before  he  healed  them,  asked 
one  of  the  devils  his  name,  who  answered,  "Legion,  for  we 
are  manj^,"  begging,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  would  not 
command  them  to  repair  into  the  deep,  or  bottomless  pit,  but 
suffer  them  to  enter  a  herd  of  swine  feeding  at  a  distance. 
The  Saviour  permitted  this,  that  his  disciples,  and  those  who 
were  with  him,  might  be  fully  convinced  that  these  imhappy 
persons  were  really  possessed  by  apostate  spirits,  and  at  the 
same  time  give  them  a  terrible  instance  of  their  power  when 
free  from  all  restraint. 

The  Divine  permission  was  no  sooner  granted,  than  the 
spectators  beheld  at  a  distance  the  torments  these  poor  crea- 
tures suffered,'  with  what  amazing  rapidity  they  ran  to  the 
confines  of  the  lake,  leaped  from  the  precipices  into  the  sea, 
"and  perished  in  the  waters,"  while  the  persons  who,  a 
moment  before,  were  raving  and  cutting  themselves  in  the 
most  shocking  manner,  became  at  once  meek  and  composed, 
having  recovered  entirely  the  exercise  of  their  reason.  The 
keepers  of  the  herd,  terrified  at  this  astonishing  miracle,  ran 
into  the  city,  publishing  in  every  part  the  cure  of  the  men 
possessed  with  the  devils,  and  the  destruction  of  the  swine. 

This  surprising  report  threw  the  inhabitants  into  the 
gi'catest  consternation ;  they  "left  the  city,  to  be  spectators  of 
so  wonderful  an  event ;  but  when  they  saw  the  men  who  had 
been  possessed,  sitting  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  decently  clothed, 
and  in  their  right  minds,  their  fear  was  increased.  For, 
knowing  they  had  trespassed  in  keeping  the  swine,  which 
was  contrary  to  the  law  of  Moses,  they  dreaded  a  more  severe 
punishment ;  and  being  ignorant  of  the  goodness  of  Jesus, 
though  he  had  given  them  so  remarkable  a  proof  of  it  in  the 
cure  of  these  wretched  mortals,  they  besought  him  that  he 
would  leave  their  country. 


CHRIST.  155 

The  stupid  request  of  the  Gadarenes  was,  however,  com- 
plied with  by  the  blessed  Jesus,  who,  entering  the  ship,  re- 
turned to  the  country  from  whence  he  came,  leaving  them  a 
valuable  pledge  of  love,  and  k  noble  pattern  of  perseverance 
in  well-doing,  even  when  our  kindnesses  are  condemned,  or 
requited  with  injuries. 

He  would  not  suffer  the  persons  dispossessed  to  accompany 
him,  though  they  earnestly  requested  it ;  but  ordered  them 
to  stay  in  their  own  country,  as  a  standing  monument  of  his  • 
power  and  goodness.  "  Go  home  to  thy  friends,"  said  the 
compassionate  Jesus  to  one  of  them,  "  and  tell  them  how 
great  things  the  Lord  hath  done  for  thee,  and  hath  had  com- 
passion on  thee." 

No  sooner  was  the  arrival  of  our  Saviour  and  his  disciples 
at  Capernaum  published,  than  such  throngs  of  people  were 
gathered  together,  that  the  house  could  not  contain  them,  nor 
even  the  court  before  the  door. 

He,  however,  preached  the  words  of  eternal  life  to  the 
listening  audience,  among  whom  were  many  Pharisees  and 
doctors  of  the  law,  who,  from  the  fame  of  his  miracles,  were 
come  from  all  quarters  to  hear  him. 

He  not  only  addressed  them  in  the  most  nervous  and 
pathetic  manner,  in  order  to  inculcate  the  doctrines  he  deliv- 
ered, but  also  performed  such  astonishing  miracles  as  ought 
to  have  removed  all  their  scruples  with  regard  to  the  truth 
of  his  mission. 

Among  other  instances  he  gave  of  his  divine  power,  was 
that  of  restoring  a  man  to  perfect  health,  who  had  long  been 
afflicted  with  the  palsy,  and  was  reduced  by  that  terrible  dis- 
ease to  the  most  melancholy  condition,  being  unable  to  move 
any  member  of  his  body,  but  seemed  rather  an  emaciated 
carcass  than  a  man. 

This  miserable  object  was  supported  in  his  bed  by  four 
persons,  who,  being  unable  to  enter  by  the  door,  on  account 
of  the  multitude,  carried  him  to  the  top  of  the  house,  which, 
like  the  other  roofs  in  that  country,  was  flat,  and  had  a  bat- 
tlement round  accordmg  to  the  direction  given  by  Moses. 

On  these  was  a  kind  of  trap-door,  by  which  they  came  out 


156  CHRIST. 

of  the  houses  upon  tlie  roofs,  where  they  spent  a  considerable 
part  of  the  day.  It  was  also  common  to  have  a  flight  of 
stairs  from  the  garden  to  the  roof;  and  by  these  the  persons 
seem  to  have  carried  the  sick  of  the  palsy ;  but  finding  the 
door  fastened,  forced  open,  or  uncovered  the  roof,  and  through 
the  opening  let  down  by  ropes  the  sick  of  the  palsy,  lying 
on  his  bed,  into  the  midst  of  the  company,  before  Jesus ; 
who,  seeing  the  faith  of  the  friends  of  the  afflicted  person, 
he  had  compassion  on  him,  and  spake  aloud,  "  Son,  be  of 
good  cheer ;   thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee." 

The  Scribes,  taking  offense  at  this  saying,  cried  out.  This 
man  speaketh  blasphemy ;  for  he  appropriates  that  to  himself 
which  is  solely  the  province  of  Omnipotence.  "Who  can 
forgive  sins  but  God  only  ?" 

They  were  ignorant  that  the  person  who  uttered  these  gra- 
cious words  was  the  Son  of  God,  and  consequently  had  the 
power  of  forgiving  the  sins  of  the  human  race.  But  our 
Lord,  who  had  recourse  to  the  most  secret  recesses  of  the 
heart,  and  was  willing  to  show  them  that  he  was  really 
endued  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  said  to  them,  "Wherefore 
think  ye  evil  in  your  hearts  ?  For  whether  is  it  easier  to  say 
to  the  sick  of  the  palsy.  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,  or  to  say, 
Arise,  and  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk?"  These  were  ques- 
tions beyond  the  abilities  of  the  haughty  Scribes  to  answer, 
and,  therefore,  they  held  their  peace ;  and  the  blessed  Jesus 
then  added,  that  the  miracles  he  was  going  to  perform  would 
sufficiently  demonstrate  that  he  had  not  usurped  what  did 
not  in  the  strictest  manner  belong  to  him. 

And  turning  himself  from  these  bigoted  teachers  of  Israel, 
toward  the  sick  of  the  palsy,  he  said  unto  him,  "Arise,  take 
up  thy  bed  and  go  unto  thy  own  house." 

Nor  was  this  divine  mandate  any  sooner  given,  than  the 
man  was  restored  to  his  former  health  and  strength  ;  and  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  present,  took  up  his  bed,  and  departed 
to  his  own  house,  glorifying  God.  And  all  the  people,  when 
they  saw  this  great  work,  expressed  the  highest  degree  of 
surprise,  mixed  with  admiration,  for  all  the  great  honor  the 
Almighty  had  conferred  on  human  nature.     "They  glorified 


CHRIST.  157 

God,  who  had  given  such  power  unto  men."  The  blessed 
Jesus,  having  wrought  this  miracle,  repaired  to  the  sea-side, 
and  taught  a  multitude  of  the  people. 

What  the  subject  of  his  sermon  was,  the  evangelists  have 
not  told  us  ;  but  it  was,  doubtless,  like  the  rest,  calculated  to 
promote  the  eternal  welfare  of  mankind. 

His  discourse  being  ended,  he  returned  to  the  city,  and  in 
his  way  saw  Matthew,  or  Levi,  the  son  of  Alpheus,  a  rich 
publican,  sitting  in  his  office,  where  the  customs  are  levied, 
at  the  port  of  Capernaum,  whom  he  ordered  to  follow  him. 

Matthew  immediately  obeyed  the  summons,  and  folloAved 
the  Saviour  of  the  world,  to  pursue  a  far  more  honorable  and 
important  employment,  being  afterward  both  an  apostle  and 
an  evangelist. 

Some  little  time  after  this  call,  he  made  a  splendid  enter- 
tainment for  his  Master,  inviting  all  the  publicans  he  kncAv; 
hoping  that  by  hearing  the  heavenly  conversation  of  Christ, 
they  might  also  repent,  and  embrace  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel. 

The  self-righteous  Scribes  and  Pharisees  entered  into  a 
controversy  with  Jesus,  during  v/hich,  Jairus,  a  ruler  of  the 
synagogue,  came  running  to  him,  in  all  the  agonies  of  grief; 
and  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  company,  fell  on  the  ground 
before  him,  beseeching  him  that  he  would  come  and  heal  his 
daughter,  who  lay  at  the  point  of  death. 

When  did  the  beneficent  Jesus  deny  his  gracious  assistance 
to  those  who  implored  it  of  him  ? 

He  immediately  arose,  and  followed  the  ruler  toward  his 
house,  surrounded  by  a  great  multitude  of  people,  who  were 
desirous  of  seeing  so  great  a  miracle  performed. 

But  as  he  passed  through  the  streets,  a  woman  who  had 
for  twelve  years  been  afflicted  with  an  issue,  or  flux  of  blood, 
and  had  spent  her  whole  substance  on  physicians,  to  no  pur- 
pose, "  came  behind  him,  and  touched  the  hem  of  his  gar- 
ment ;  for  she  said  within  herself,  if  I  may  but  touch  his 
clothes,  I  shall  be  whole." 

Nor  was  she  deceived ;  for  no  sooner  had  she  touched  the 
border  of  the  garment  of  the  Son  of  God,  than  "  her  issue 


158 


CHRIST. 


of  blood  dried  up ;"  and  she  felt,  by  the  return  of  her  health 
and  strength,  and  other  agreeable  sensations  that  accompany 
such  sudden  changes  from  painful  diseases  to  perfect  health, 
that  the  cure  was  absolutely  complete. 

But  this  transaction  could  not  be  concealed :  the  blessed 
Jesus  knew  the  whole,  and  her  secret  thoughts  before  she 
put  them  in  practice;  and  pleased  with  the  opinion  this 
woman  had  entertained  both  of  his  power  and  goodness, 
would  not  by  any  means  suffer  it  to  pass  unapplauded. 

Accordingly,  he  turned  himself  about,  and  asked,  "Who 
touched  me  ?"  He  well  knew  the  person ;  but  asked  this 
question  for  the  fuller  manifestations  of  the  woman's  faith, 
■and  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  instructing  and 
comforting  her. 

His  disciples  being  ignorant  of  what  had  passed,  were  sur- 
prised at  the  question  :  "  Thou  seest,"  said  they  to  their 
Master,  "the  multitude  thronging  and  pressing  thee,  and 
sayest  thou,  Who  touched  me  ?"  They  did  not  distinguish 
between  the  spiritual  and  corporeal  touch,  nor  know  that 
such  efficacious  virtue  had  gone  out  of  their  Master. 

Jesus,  however,  persisted  in  knowing  who  it  was  that  had 
done  the  thing;  and  the  woman  finding  it  in  vain  to  conceal 
her  action  any  longer,  came  to  him  trembling,  and  told  him 
all.  Perhaps  the  uncleanness  of  her  distemper  was  the  rea- 
son of  her  fear,  thinking  he  would  be  offended  even  at  her 
touching  the  hem  of  his  garment. 

But  the  Divine  Physician,  far  from  being  angry,  spake  to 
her  in  the  kindest  manner,  commending  her  faith,  on  which 
account  he  had  consented  to  heal  her  plague, — "  Daughter, 
be  of  good  comfort ;  thy  faith  hath  made  the  whole." 

Such  a  miraculous  incident  must  doubtless  have  greatly 
strengthened  the  ruler's  faith;  for  behold  a  virtue,  little  infe- 
rior to  that  of  raising  the  dead,  issues  from  the  border  of  his 
garment,  and  heals  a  disease  which  for  the  space  of  twelve 
years  had  baffled  all  the  precepts  of  the  healing  art,  and 
defied  the  power  of  medicine. 

Indeed,  the  faith  of  this  ruler  had  need  of  the  strongest 
confirmation,  for  news  was  brought  him  that  his  daughter 


CHRIST.  159 

was  even  now  dead,  and  therefore  it  was  needless  for  him  to 
give  any  further  trouble  to  Jesus,  not  in  the  least  suspecting 
that  he  had  power  to  recall  the  departed  spirit,  and  reanimate 
a  breathless  carcass. 

This  message  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  affectionate  parent. 
His  only  daughter,  who,  a  few  days  before,  was  in  the  bloom 
of  youth,  was  now  a  pale  and  lifeless  corpse ;  and  Avith  her 
all  his  joys  and  comforts  were  fled. 

But  Jesus,  commiserating  his  grief,  desired  him  to  be  com- 
forted, promising  that  his  daughter  should  be  restored. 

On  his  coming  to  the  ruler's  house,  he  found  it  full  of 
mourners,  who  made  terrible  lamentations  ;  a  sufficient  dem- 
onstration that  the  damsel  was  really  dead  ;  and  accordingly* 
when  our  blessed  Saviour  desired  the  mourners  to  cease  their 
funeral  ceremonies,  as  "the  maid  was  not  dead,  but  .sleeping," 
they  "  laughed  him  to  scorn." 

Having  thus  briefly  addressed  the  mourners,  he  enteied 
the  chamber  where  the  damsel  was  lying,  but  suffered  none 
to  follow  him,  except  Peter,  James  and  John,  together  with 
the  father  and  mother  of  the  damsel. 

Probably  his  reason  for  suffering  these  only  to  be  spectators 
of  so  stupendous  a  work  was,  that  they  might  have  an 
opportunity  of  examining  the  whole  transaction  in  the  most 
careful  manner,  and  be  thence  enabled  afterward  to  report 
it,  upon  the  fullest  conviction,  and  with  every  circumstance 
of  credibility. 

The  blessed  Jesus  now  approached  the  body,  took  her  by 
the  hand,  and  with  a  gentle  voice,  said,  "  Maid  arise." 

The  heavenly  command  was  instantly  obeyed  ;  the  damsel 
arose,  as  from  a  sleep,  and  with  all  the  appearance  of  health 
and  vigor ;  for  Jesus  commanded  to  give  her  something  to 
eat;  a  plain  proof  that  she  did  not  appear  in  the  weak  and 
languishing  condition  of  a  person  worn  out  with  disease,  or 
even  like  one  who  had  fainted  away;  a  circumstance  that 
abundantly  proves  the  greatness  and  perfection  of  the 
miracle. 

It  is,  therefore,  no  wonder  that  her  parents  should  be 
astonished  at  so  stupendous  a  work,  the  fame  of  which  was 


160  CnlUST. 

presently  spread  tlirougli  all  the  neighboring  countr}';  though 
Jesus,  who  was  in  every  sense  above  praise,  and  therefore 
never  courted  it,  had  strictly  charged  them  to  tell  no  man 
what  he  had  done. 

These  instances  of  power  did  the  blessed  Jesus  display  to 
convince  the  world  that  those  who  die  in  him  are  not  dead ; 
and  that  he  has  the  keys  of  life  and  death. 

Those  also,  of  the  present  age,  who  believe  thai  the  soul 
sleeps  with  the  body  till  the  resurrection,  would  do  well  to 
consider  the  expression  of  the  evangelist,  "  Her  spirit  came 
again,"  which  sufficiently  shows  that  the  soul  exists  sepa- 
rately w'hen  the  body  is  laid  in  the  chambers  of  the  grave. 
•  Having  performed  this  benevolent  miracle,  our  blessed 
Saviour  left  the  ruler's  house,  and  was  followed  through  the 
streets  by  two  blind  men,  imploring  assistance  ;  nor  did  they 
implore  in  vain.  The  Redeemer  of  mankind  was,  and  is, 
always  ready  to  grant  the  petitions  of  those  who  apply  to 
him  for  relief  Accordingly,  he  no  sooner  entered  into  the 
house,  to  avoid  the  thronging  of  the  multitude,  than  he 
touched  their  eyes,  and  said,  "According  to  your  faith,  be  it 
unto  you;"  and  immediately  the  valuable  gift  of  sight  was 
bestowed  on  them. 

The  men  who  had  thus  miraculously  received  their  sight, 
being  departed,  the  multitude  brought  to  him  "  a  dumb  man 
possessed  with  a  devil." 

So  moving  a  sight  could  not  fail  of  attracting  a  compas- 
sionate regard  from  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  who,  being 
never  weary  of  well-doing,  immediately  cast  out  the  apostate 
spirit;  on  which  the  dumb  man  recovered  his  speech,  and 
spoke  in  a  very  rational  manner  to  the  multitude,  who  with 
one  voice  declared  that  such  wondrous  works  were  never 
wrought  by  any  of  the  old  prophets. 

"  It  was  never  so  seen  in  Israel." 

These  works  did  not  remove  the  prejudice  of  the  Phari- 
sees, who  bemg  unable  to  deny  the  miracle,  insinuated  that 
he  did  it  by  a  power  received  from  Beelzebub,  "  the  prince 
of  the  devils," — a  poor  pretense  indeed,  which  did  not 
escape  the  animadversion  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 


CHRIST.  161 

But  all  their  calumnies  did  not  provoke  the  meek  and 
merciful  Jesus,  to  cease  from  performing  these  compassioiiate 
offices  for  the  children  of  men. 

On  the  contrary,  he  exerted  himself  still  more  and  more 
to  promote  the  prosperity  and  salvation  of  the  whole  human 
race. 

Accordingly,  he  left  Capernaum,  and  traveled  through  the 
country  in  search  of  miserable  objects  on  whom  he  might 
confer  happiness  and  peace ;  "  visiting  all  the  cities  and  vil- 
lages, teaching  in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gospel 
of  the  kingdom,  and  healing  every  sickness  and  every  disease 
among  the  people."  , 

In  his  return  from  this  tour  to  Capernaum,  he  was  at- 
tended by  a  great  number  of  people,  who  expressed  a  more 
than  common  desire  to  hear  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel — an 
incident  abundantly  sufficient  to  engage  the  attention  of  this 
divine  Teacher,  who  was  alwa3's  careful  to  cultivate  the 
latent  seeds  of  virtue,  and  cherish  the  least  appearance  of 
piety  and  religion. 

The  inhabitants  of  Judea  were  truly  in  a  deplorable  con- 
dition, which  called  loudly  for  the  compassion  of  the  Son 
of  God,  who  always  regarded  the  descendants  of  Jacob  with 
the  most  tender  affection. 

He  saw  the  sheep  of  Israel  scattered  on  the  barren  wastes 
of  error  and  superstition,  without  a  shepherd  to  lead  them 
to  the  heavenly  pastures  of  the  law  and  the  prophets. 

He  Saw:  he  commiserated  their  distress,  and  he  resolved 
to  provide  some  remedy  for  it.  Accordingly,  he  directed  his 
apostles  to  intercede  with  the  Almighty,  who,  by  his  servants, 
the  prophets,  had  sown  the  seeds  of  piety  and  virtue,  in  the 
minds  of  the  Jews,  that  he  would  not  suffer  the  rich  harvest 
to  be  lost  for  the  want  of  laborers.  "  The  harvest,"  said  the 
blessed  Jesus  to  his  disciples,  "  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the 
•  laborers  are  few.  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest, 
that  he  would  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest." 

To  these  gracious  acts  he  added  the  most  powerful  of  all 

intercessions   to   the   throne   of  grace,  his   own   prevailing 

prayer ;  and  accordinglj^  ascended  to  the  top  of  a  mountain, 

11 


162  CHRIST. 

and  there  spent  the  night  in  making  the  most  powerful 
petitions  in  behalf  of  "  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel,"  to  his 
heavenly  Father. 

Ilaving  spent  the  night  in  this  pious  exercise,  he  lost  no 
time  in  putting  his  beneficent  intentions  into  execution ;  for 
no  sooner  had  darkness  withdrawn  her  sable  veil,  and  the 
bhishing  rays  of  the  morning  adorned  the  chambers  of  the 
east,  than  this  benevolent  Redeemer  of  mankind  called  his 
disciples  to  him,  and  chose  twelve,  "  whom  he  named  apos- 
tles, to  be  always  with  him,  and  that  he  might  send  them 
forth  to  preach." 

He  ordered  them  to  be  constantly  with  him,  that  they 
might  learn  from  his  own  mouth  the  doctrines  they  were  to 
preach  to  the  whole  world,  that  they  might  see  his  glory, 
the  transcendent  glory  of  the  virtues  which  adorned  his 
human  life,  and  that  they  might  be  witnesses  of  all  the 
wondrous  works  he  should  perform  during  his  residence  in 
this  vale  of  misery,  and  by  which  his  mission  from  the  court 
of  heaven  was  to  be  fully  demonstrated. 

Ilaving  ordained  them  to  their  respective  offices,  he  sent 
them  out  by  two  and  two,  into  the  most  distant  parts  of  Ju- 
dea,  to  preach  there  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel,  and 
prepare  the  way  for  their  Master,  the  great  Shepherd  of 
Israel,  And  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  to  render  their 
preaching  acceptable  to  the  people,  and  confirm  the  impor- 
tant doctrines  they  delivered,  he  invested  them  with  full 
power  to  cure  all  diseases,  cast  out  devils,  and  even  to  raise 
the  dead. 

After  this  appointment  of  the  twelve  apostles,  he  came 
down  from  the  mountain,  and  was  joyfully  received  by 
multitudes  of  people,  who  were  waiting  for  him  in  the 
plain,  and  pressed  to  touch  him;  well  knowing  if  they  could 
only  touch  the  border  of  his  garment  they  should  be  healed 
of  whatever  distemper  they  were  afflicted  with ;  a  sufficient 
reason  why  they  were  continually  waiting  for  him,  and  were 
willing  to .  accompany  him  even  into  the  remotest  corners 
of  the  wilderness. 


CHAPTER  V. 

RESTORES  TO  LIEE  THE  WIDOW'S  SON  AT  NAIN;    MIRACULOUS  CURE  AT  THE 
POOL  OF  BETHESDA;    DELIVERS  REMARKABLE  PARABLES,  AND  EX- 
PLAINS SEVERAL;   COMMISSIONS  THE  APOSTLES  TO  PREACH; 
EEEDS  FIVE  THOUSAND  BY  MIRACLE. 

AYING  received  tlieir  commission,  the  apostles 
visited  all  tlie  parts  of  Palestine  where  the  Jews 
inhabited,  preaching  the  doctrine  of  repentance, 
working  miracles  for  its  confirmation,  and  par- 
ticularly healing  the  sick,  while  our  blessed 
Saviour  continued  the  course  of  his  ministry  in  Galilee. 

The  apostles  being  returned  from  their  tour,  Jesus  went  to 
Nain,  a  town  situated  near  Endor,  about  two  miles  south  of 
Mount  Tabor,  attended  by  many  of  his  disciples,  and  a  great 
multitude  of  people. 

On  their  coming  to  the  entrance  of  the  city,  a  melancholy 
scene  presented  itself  to  the  eyes  of  Jesus  and  his  followers. 
"^Behold,  there  was  a  dead  man  carried  out,  the  only  son  of 
his  mother,  and  she  was  a  widoAV." 

Who  would  not  have  imagined  that  God  had  indeed  "for- 
gotten to  be  gracious,  and  in  his  anger  shut  up  his  tender 
mercies"  from  this  poor  widow,  suffering  under  the  heaviest 
load,  and  laboring  under  the  most  oppressive  burden  of  dis- 
tress ?  deprived  of  her  only  son,  in  the  flower  of  his  youth, 
when  he  might  have  repaid  his  mother's  toils,  and  been  to 
her  in  the  place  of  a  husband  ;  of  that  husband  she  had  not 
long  since  lost,  and  whose  loss  was  supportable  only  through 
the  comfort  of  this  child,  the  surviving  image  of  his  departed 
fiither,  the  balm  of  all  her  grief,  the  hope  of  her  afflicted  soul. 
"Who  now  shall  administer  consolation  to  this  solitary  widow, 
to  this  lonely  parent,  bereaved  of  her  husband,  deprived  of 
her  child  ?  What  misery  can  be  more  complicated  ?  What 
can  be  more  natural  than  that  she  should  "  refuse  to  be  com- 
forted?" that  she  should  "ffo  down  to  the  ";rave  with  mourn- 


164  CHRIST. 

ing,"  and  ^asit  the  chambers  of  death,  the  residence  of  the 
beloved  remains  of  her  husband  and  son,  with  sorrow  ? 

Toward  the  receptacle  of  mortalit}^,  that  dreary  waste  of 
forgetfalncss,  the  mournful  funeral  with  slow  and  solemn 
pomp  was  advancing,  when  the  compassionate  Redeemer  of 
mankind  met  the  melancholy  procession,  composed  of  a  long 
train  of  her  weeping  neighbors  and  relations,  who  pitied  her 
distress,  S3^mpathized  with  her  in  this  great  affliction,  and 
were  melted  with  compassion  at  her  deplorable  circumstances ; 
but  sighs  and  tears  were  all  they  had  to  offer ;  relief  could 
not  be  expected  from  a  human  being :  their  commiseration, 
though  grateful  to  her  afflicted  soul,  could  neither  restore  the 
husband  nor  the  son ;  submission  and  patience  were  the  only 
lessons  they  could  preach,  or  this  afflicted  daughter  of  Israel 
learn. 

But  though  man  was  unable  to  relieve  the  distresses  of  this 
disconsolate  widow,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  who  beheld 
the  melancholy  procession,  was  both  able  and  willing  to  do  it. 
There  was  no  need  of  a  powerful  solicitor  to  implore  assist- 
ance from  the  Son  of  God ;  his  own  compassion  was  abund- 
antly sufficient.  "  When  the  Lord  saw  her,  he  had  compas- 
sion on  her;"  he  both  sought  the  patient,  and  offered  the  cure 
unexpectedl3^  "  Weep  not,"  said  the  blessed  Jesus  to  this 
afflicted  woman.  Alas!  it  had  been  wholly  in  vain  to 
bid  her  refrain  from  tears  who  had  lost  her  only  child,  the 
sole  comfort  of  her  age,  without  administering  the  balm  of 
comfort  to  heal  her  broken  spirit.  This  our  compassionate 
Redeemer  well  knew  ;  and,  therefore,  immediately  advancing 
toward  the  corpse,  "  he  touched  the  bier  ;"  the  pomp  of  the 
funeral  was  instantly  stopped,  silence  closed  every  mouth, 
and  expectation  filled  the  breast  of  every  spectator. 

But  this  deep  suspense  did  not  long  continue ;  that  glorious 
voice  which  shall  one  day  call  our  dead  bodies  from  the  grave, 
filled  their  ears  with  these  remarkable  words :  "  Young  man, 
I  say  unto  thee,  arise !"  Nor  was  this  powerful  command 
uttered  without  its  sure  effect.  "  He  spake,  and  it  was  done;" 
he  called  with  authority,  and  immediately  "  he  that  was  dead 
sat  up,  and  began  to  speak;  and  he  restored  him  to  his  mother." 


CHRIST.  165 

He  did  not  show  liini  around  to  the  multitude ;  but,  by  a 
singular  act  of  modesty  and  humanity,  delivered  him  to  his 
late  afflicted,  now  astonished  and  rejoicing  mother,  to  inti- 
mate that,  in  compassion  to  her  great  distress  he  had  wrought 
this  stupendous  miracle. 

A  holy  and  an  awful  fear  fell  on  all  who  heard  and  saw 
this  astonishing  event ;  "  and  they  glorified  God,  saying,  a 
great  prophet  is  risen  up  among  us ;  and  God  hath  visited 
his  people." 

Soon  after  this,  having  concluded  a  public  address,  one  of 
the  Pharisees,  named  Simon,  desired  he  would  "  eat  with 
him  ;"  the  blessed  Jesus  accepted  the  invitation,  accompanied 
him  to  his  house,  and  sat  down  to  meat. 

He  had  not  long  continued  at  the  table,  before  a  woman 
who  had  lately  left  the  paths  of  vice  for  those  of  virtue, 
placed  herself  behind  him,  and  from  a  deep  conviction  of  her 
former  crimes,  and  the  obligations  she  owed  the  Saviour  of 
mankind  for  brinsrinfr  her  to  a  sense  of  them,  shed  such 
quantities  of  tears  that  they  trickled  down  on  his  feet,  which, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  were  then  bare. 

But  observing  that  her  tears  had  wet  the  feet  of  her  be- 
loved instructor,  she  immediately  wiped  them  with  the  hair 
of  her  head,  kissed  them  with  the  most  ardent  affection,  and 
anointed  them  with  a  precious  ointment  she  had  brought 
with  her  for  that  purpose. 

It  was  a  custom  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  east,  to  pour 
fragrant  oils  on  the  heads  of  such  guests  as  they  intended 
particularly  to  honor,  while  they  sat  at  meat ;  and  probably 
the  woman's  original  intention  was  to  anoint  Jesus  in  the 
usual  manner. 

But,  being  exceedingly  humbled  on  account  of  her  former 
crimes,  she  could  not  presume  to  take  such  a  freedom  with 
him,  and  therefore  poured  it  on  his  feet,  to  express  at  once 
the  greatness  of  her  love,  and  the  profoundness  of  her 
humility. 

The  Pharisee,  who  had  attentively  observed  the  woman, 
concluded  from  thence  that  the  Saviour  could  not  be  a 
prophet.     "This  man,"  said  the  Pharisee  to  himself,  "if  he 


166  CHRIST. 

were  a  prophet,  would  have  known  who,  and  what  manner 
of  woman  this  is  that  toucheth  him ;  for  she  is  a  sinner." 

But  though  Simon  spoke  this  only  in  his  heart,  his  thoughts 
were  not  concealed  from  the  great  Redeemer  of  mankind, 
who,  to  convince  him  that  he  was  a  prophet,  and  knew  not 
only  the  characters  of  men,  but  even  the  secret  thoughts  of 
their  hearts,  immediately  conversed  with  him  upon  the  very 
subject  he  was  revolving  in  his  mind. 

He  did  not  indeed  expose  him  before  the  company,  by 
relating  what  he  said  in  secret,  but  with  remarkable  delicacy 
pointed  out  to  Simon  alone  the  unreasonableness  of  his 
thoughts.  "Simon,"  said  the  blessed  Jesus,  "I  have  some- 
thing to  say  to  thee  :  there  was  a  certain  creditor  which  had 
two  debtors ;  the  one  owed  five  hundred  pence,  and  the  other 
fifty.  And  when  they  had  nothing  to  pay,  he  frankly  for- 
gave them  both.  Tell  me,  therefore,  which  of  them  will  love 
him  most?"  Simon  answered  and  said,  "I  suppose  that  he 
to  whom  he  forgave  most."  And  he  said  unto  him,  "  Thou 
hast  rightly  judged;"  and  then  immediately  applied  this 
short  parable  to  the  subject  of  the  woman,  on  which  the 
Pharisee  had  so  unjustly  reasoned  with  himself. 

"Simon,"  continued  our  Saviour,  "seest  thou  this  woman? 
I  entered  into  thine  house,  thou  gavest  me  no  water  for  my 
feet;  but  she  hath  washed  my  feet  with  tears,  and  wiped 
them  with  the  hair  of  her  head.  Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss ; 
but  this  woman,  since  the  time  I  came  in,  hath  not  ceased  to 
kiss  my  feet.  My  head  with  oil  thou  didst  not  anoint ;  but 
this  woman  hath  anointed  my  feet  with  ointment." 

This  woman's  kind  services  were  in  no  danger  of  losing 
their  reward  from  the  blessed  Jesus,  who  possessed  the  softer 
and  finer  feelings  of  human  nature  in  their  utmost  perfection. 
Accordingly,  he  added,  in  pursuance  of  the  kind  invitation 
he  had  made  before  to  weary  and  heavy-laden  sinners, 
"  Wherefore,  I  say  unto  thee,  her  sins,  which  are  many,  are 
forgiven,  for  she  loved  much  ;  but  to  whom  little  is  forgiven, 
the  same  loveth  little." 

The  blessed  Jesus  having  thus  commended  the  conduct  of 
the  woman  to  the  company,  and  rebuked,  with  great  delicacy, 


CHRIST.  167 

the  unjast  suspicions  of  Simon,  turned  himself  to  the  woman, 
and  in  the  kindest  manner  assured  her  tliat  "  her  sins  were 
forgiven." 

The  next  day  Jesus  traveled  from  Capernaum  to  different 
parts  of  Galilee,  "going  through  every  village,  preaching  and 
showing  the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  of  God."  That  is, 
he  declared  to  the  people  the  Avelcome  tidings  of  the  Al- 
mighty's being  willing  to  be  reconciled  to  the  children  of 
men,  on  condition  of  their  repentance,  and  embracing  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 

Leaving  Galilee,  he  repaired  to  Jerusalem,  to  keep  the 
passover,  being  the  second  feast  of  that  kind  since  his  public 
ministry.  In  this  journey  he  was  accompanied  by  certain 
pious  women,  "  who  ministered  to  him  of  their  substance." 

Our  Lord  had  no  sooner  entered  the  ancient  city  of  Jeru- 
salem, so  long  famous  for  being  the  dwelling-place  of  the 
Most  High,  than  he  repaired  to  the  public  bath  or  pool,  called 
in  the  Hebrew  tongue  " Bethesda,"  that  is,  "the  house  of 
mercy,"  on  account  of  the  miracles  wrought  there  by  the  sal- 
utary effects  of  the  water  at  certain  seasons. 

This  bath  was  surrounded  by  five  porches,  or  cloisters,  in 
which  those  who  frequented  the  place  were  sheltered  both 
from  the  heat  and  cold,  and  were  particularly  serviceable  to 
the  diseased  and  infirm,  who  crowded  thither  to  find  relief  in 
their  aflaictions.  These  porches  were  now  filled  with  a  "great 
multitude  of  impotent  folk,— of  blind,  halt,  withered,— wait- 
ing for  the  moving  of  the  water." 

Among  these  objects  of  pity  was  one  who  had  labored 
under  his  infirmity  no  less  than  thirty  and  eight  years.  The 
length  and  greatness  of  this  man's  affliction,  which  were  well 
known  to  the  Son  of  God,  were  sufficient  to  excite  his  tender 
compassion,  and  make  him  the  happy  object  to  demonstrate 
that  his  power  of  healing  was  infinitely  superior  to  the  sana- 
tive virtue  of  the  waters  of  Bethesda,  while  the  rest  were 
suffered  to  remain  in  their  affliction. 

Our  compassionate  Lord  approached  the  man  whom  he  had 
singled  out  as  the  person  on  whom  to  manifest  his  power ; 
he  asked  him  whether  he  was  desirous  of  being  made  whole, — 


168 


CHRIST, 


a  question  whicli  must  induce  the  man  to  declare  publicly  his 
melancholy  case,  in  the  hearing  of  the  multitude,  and  conse- 
quently, render  the  miracle  more  conspicuous.  And  as  this 
was  done  on  the  Sabbath  day,  our  blessed  Saviour  seems  to 
have  wrought  it  to  rouse  the  sons  of  Jacob  from  their  leth- 
argy, and  convince  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  that  the 
long-expected  Messiah  was  now  come,  and  that  "  God  had 
actually  visited  his  people."  This  distressed  mortal,  behold- 
ing Jesus  with  a  sorrowful  countenance,  and  understanding 
that  he  meant  his  being  healed  by  the  sanative  virtue  of  the 
waters,  answered,  in  a  plaintive  accent,  "  Sir,  I  have  no  man, 
when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me  into  the  pool ;  but 
while  I  am  coming,  another  steppeth  in  before  me." 

But  the  compassionate  Redeemer  of  mankind  soon  con- 
vinced him  that  he  was  not  to  owe  his  cure  to  the  salutary 
nature  of  the  waters,  but  to  the  unbounded  power  of  the 
Son  of  God,  and  accordingly  said  to  him,  "Rise,  take  up  thy 
bed,  and  walk." 

Nor  was  the  heavenly  mandate  any  sooner  uttered,  than 
the  impotent  man,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  -multitude, 
"was  made  whole  ;  and  took  up  his  bed,  and  walked." 

Soon  after  the  miracle  was  performed,  Jesus  met  in  the 
temple  the  man  he  had  healed  at  the  pool  of  Bethesda,  and 
took  the  opportunity  of  reminding  him  that,  as  he  was  now 
freed  from  an  infirmity  he  had  brought  upon  himself  by 
irregular  courses,  he  should  be  careful  to  abstain  from  them 
for  the  future,  lest  the  Almighty  should  think  proper  to  afflict 
him  in  a  more  terrible  manner. 

This  man,  overjoyed  at  having  found  the  Divine  Physician, 
who  had  relieved  him  from  his  melancholy  condition,  repaired 
to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and,  with  a  heart  overflowing 
with  gratitude,  innocently  told  them  that  it  was  Jesus  who 
had  performed  so  astonishing  a  cure ;  being  doubtless  persua- 
ded that  they  would  rejoice  at  beholding  so  great  a  prophet. 

But,  alas !  this  was  far  from  being  the  case  ;  the  rulers  of 
Israel,  instead  of  being  pleased  with  accounts  of  his  many 
stupendous  works  of  mercy  and  kindness,  attacked  him 
tumultuously  in  the  temple,  and   carried  him   before  the 


CHE  1ST.  169 

Sanhedrim,  Avith  an  intention  to  take  away  his  hfe,  merely 
because  he  had  done  good  on  the  Sabbath  day. 

Jesus,  however,  soon  vindicated,  by  irrefragable  arguments, 
the  propriety  of  his  works ;  observing  that,  in  performing 
works  of  mercy  and  beneficence  on  the  Sabbath  day,  he  only 
imitated  his  heavenly  Father,  the  God  of  Jacob,  whose  prov- 
idence was  continually  employed,  without  any  regard  to 
times  or  seasons,  in  doing  good  for  the  children  of  men. 

He  also  gave  tliem  to  understand  that  the  proofs  of  his 
mission  were  as  full  and  clear  as  possible,  being  supported  by 
the  actions  of  his  life,  which  in  all  things  agreed  with  his 
doctrine;  for  he  never  sought  the  applause  of  men,  or  as- 
sumed secular  power,  but  was  always  innocent  and  humble, 
though  he  well  knew  that  these  virtues  made  him  appear 
little  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  had  no  idea  of  a  spiritual 
kingdom,  but  expected  the  Messiah  would  appear  in  all  the 
pomp  of  secular  authority. 

Thus  did  the  blessed  Jesus  assert  himself  to  be  the  Son  of 
God,  the  great  Judge  of  the  whole  earth,  and  the  Messiah 
promised  by  the  prophets ;  and  at  the  same  time  gave  them 
such  convincing  proofs  of  his  being  sent  from  God,  that  noth- 
ing could  be  said  against  them. 

A  dispute  with  the  Pharisees  followed,  during  which  Jesus 
was  informed  that  his  mother  and  brethren,  or  kinsmen,  were 
without,  desiring  to  speak  with  him  ;  upon  which  the  blessed 
Jesus  stretched  out  his  hand  toward  his  disciples,  and  said, 
"  Behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren.  For  whosoever  shall 
do  the  will  of  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven,  the  same  is  my 
brother,  and  sister,  and  mother." 

This  glorious  truth  should  be  stamped  upon  the  minds  of 
all  believers,  as  it  shows  that  every  one,  of  what  nation  or 
kindred  soever,  who  is  brought  into  subjection  to  the  will  of 
God,  is  allied  to  the  blessed  Jesus,  and  entitled  to  the  salva- 
tion of  God. 

The  miraculous  power  of  our  blessed  Lord,  both  in  per- 
forming the  most  astonishing  acts,  and  confuting  the  most 
learned  of  the  Pharisaical  tribe,  who  endeavored  to  oppose 
his  mission  and  doctrine,  brought  together  so  great  a  multi- 


170  CHRIST. 

tilde,  that  he  repaired  to  the  seaside ;  and  for  the  better 
instructing  the  people,  he  entered  into  a  ship,  and  the  multi- 
tude stood  on  the  shore.  Being  thus  conveniently  seated,  he 
delivered  many  precepts  of  the  utmost  importance,  beginning 
with  the  parable  of  the  sower,  who  casts  his  seed  on  different 
kinds  of  soil,  the  products  of  which  were  answerable  to  the 
nature  of  the  ground,  some  yielding  a  large  increase,  others 
nothing  at  all.  By  this  striking  similitude  the  blessed  Jesus 
represented  the  different  kinds  of  hearers,  and  the  different 
manner  in  which  they  are  affected  by  the  truths  of  religion. 
Some  wholly  suppress  the  doctrines  delivered ;  in  others  they 
produce  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  in  proper  proportion  to 
the  goodness  of  their  hearts. 

And  surely  a  more  appropriate  parable  could  not  have 
been  delivered,  when  such  multitudes  came  to  hear  his  dis- 
courses, and  so  few  practiced  the  precepts  or  profited  by  the 
heavenly  doctrines  they  contained. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  concluded  his  discourse  to  the  multi- 
tude v/ith  the  parable  of  the  leaven,  to  intimate  the  influence 
of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  on  the  minds  of  particular 
persons :  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  leaven, 
which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  till 
the  whole  was  leavened." 

While  Jesus  was  thus  employed  in  his  heavenly  Father's 
business,  his  mother  and  brethren  came  a  second  time,  desir- 
ing to  see  him.  In  all  probability  they  feared  that  the  con- 
tinued fatigue  of  preaching  would  injure  his  health ;  and 
were  therefore  desirous  of  taking  him  with  them,  that  he 
might  refresh  himself 

But  the  blessed  Jesus,  who  was  never  weary  of  doing 
good,  answered  his  indulging  parent  as  before  :  "  My  mother 
and  my  brethren  are  those  which  hear  the  word  of  God,  and 
do  it." 

Night  approaching,  Jesus  dismissed  the  multitude,  and 
returned  to  the  house  in  Capernaum  where  he  abode,  and 
there  explained  to  his  disciples  the  parable  of  the  tares  in  the 
field.  The  husbandjnan,  said  our  Saviour,  is  the  Son  of 
Man.     The  field,  the  christian  church,  planted  in  different 


CHRIST.  171 

parts  of  the  world.  The  wheat  are  those  christians  who 
beheve  in  Christ,  who  obey  the  precepts  of  the  gospel,  and 
are  supported  by  the  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  the 
tares,  the  bad  professors,  seduced  into  the  paths  of  vice  by 
the  temptations  of  the  devil.  Our  blessed  Lord,  therefore, 
b}^  this  parable,  represented  the  mixed  nature  of  the  church 
on  earth,  the  dismal  end  of  hypocrites,  and  those  who  forget 
God ;  for  these  may  deceive  for  a  time,  by  assuming  the  robes 
of  virtue  and  religion ;  yet  they  will  not  fail,  sooner  or  later, 
to  betray  themselves,  and  show  that  they  are  only  wolves  in 
sheep's  clothing. 

Our  Lord  on  this  occasion  delivered  the  parables  of  the 
treasure  hid  in  the  field,  and  of  the  pearl  of  great  price,  both 
designed  for  the  same  purpose,  to  promote  the  diligence,  zeal, 
and  resolution  of  his  disciples,  in  searching  into  and  teaching 
these  gi'cat  and  important  truths,  in  which  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  souls  were  so  much  concerned. 

And  surely  the  similitudes  both  of  the  treasures  and  pearl 
are  very  naturally  used  to  signify  the  gospel;  the  former,  as 
it  enriches  all  who  possess  it ;  and  the  latter,  because  it  is 
more  precious  than  rubies. 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  having  finished  these  parables,  asked 
his  disciples  if  they  understood  them ;  and  upon  their  an- 
swering in  the  affirmative,  he  added,  that  every  teacher  of 
the  gospel  ought  to  resemble  a  person  whose  house  was  com- 
pletely furnished,  and  brought  "forth  out  of  his  treasure 
things  new  and  old," 

Soon  after,  Jesus  left  Capernaum,  and  repaired  to  Naza- 
reth, where  he  had  been  brought  up,  and  preached  in  the 
synagogue  the  glad  tidings  of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  but  his 
townsmen,  though  astonished  at  his  doctrine,  could  not  over- 
come the  prejudices  they  had  conceived  against  him,  on 
account  of  the  meanness  of  his  family,  and  thence  refused  to 
own  him  as  the  Messiah. 

Our  Saviour,  finding  them  the  same  incorrigible  persons  as 
when  he  visited  them  before,  departed  from  them,  and  taught 
in  the  neighboring  villages. 

They,  in  common  with  all  the  Jews,  were  strangers  to  the 


172  CHRIST. 

true  character  of  the  Messiah,  whom  thej  considered  as  a 
temporal  prince ;  and  therefore  could  not  bear  that  a  person 
so  mean  as  Jesus  appeared  to  be,  should  perform  works 
peculiar  to  that  idol  of  their  vanity,  a  glorious,  triumphant, 
secular  Messiah. 

While  the  Lord  resided  in  the  neighborliood  of  Nazareth, 
he  sent  out  his  disciples  to  preach  in  different  parts  of  Gali- 
lee, and  to  proclaim  the  glad  tidings,  that  God  was  then  going 
to  establish  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  wherein  he  should 
be  worshiped  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

And  in  order  that  they  might  confirm  the  doctrines  they 
delivered,  and  prove  that  they  had  received  their  commission 
from  the  Son  of  God,  they  were  endowed  with  the  power  of 
working  miracles.  How  long  they  continued  their  preach- 
ing, can  not  be  known,  but  it  is  reasonable  to  think  they 
spent  considerable  time  in  it,  preaching  in  several  parts  of 
Judea. 

The  miracles  which  the  apostles  wrought  raised  the  expect- 
.itions  of  men  higher  than  ever ;  the  people  were  astonished 
to  see  the  disciples  of  Jesus  perform  such  miracles,  and 
thence  concluded  that  our  Saviour  must  be  greater  than  any 
of  the  old  prophets,  who  could  not  transmit  the  power  they 
enjoyed  to  any  other.  This  extraordinary  circumstance  could 
not  fail  of  spreading  his  fame  through  the  whole  country ;  it 
even  reached  the  ears  of  Herod  the  Tetrarch,  who,  fearing  a 
person  of  such  extraordinary  abilities,  was  very  uneasy ; 
which  some  of  his  courtiers  observing,  endeavored  to 
remove,  telling  him  that  one  of  the  old  prophets  were  risen 
from  the  dead ;  but  this  did  not  satisfy  him,  and  he  declared 
that  he  believed  it  was  John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the  dead. 

It  is  not  strange  that  his  conscience  should  thus  have 
accused  him,  for  he  beheaded  this  great  and  good  man  to 
gratify  the  request  of  a  wicked,  revengeful  woman. 

The  disciples  were  so  alarmed  at  the  cruel  fate  of  the  Bap- 
tist, whose  memory  they  highly  revered,  that  they  returned 
from  their  mission,  and  assisted  in  performing  the  last  offices 
to  the  body  of  their  master,  many  of  the  apostles  having 
been  originally  disciples  of  John. 


CHRIST.  173 

As  soon  as  these  pious  rites  were  over,  they  repaired  to 
.Tesus,  and  told  him  all  that  had  happened. 

Their  compassionate  master,  on  hearing  this  melancholy 
news,  retired  with  them  by  sea  into  a  desert  place,  belonging 
to  Bethsaida,  that  by  retirement,  meditation,  and  prayer,  they 
might  be  refreshed  and  recruited  for  their  spiritual  labors ; 
and  at  the  same  time  leave  an  example  to  us,  that  we  should 
often  retire  from  the  noise  and  hurry  of  the  world,  and  offer 
up  the  most  fervent  prayers  to  our  heavenly  Father. 

But  the  multitude  attended  so  closely,  that  their  departure 
was  not  long  concealed ;  and  great  numbers  of  people  re- 
paired to  the  place  where  they  supposed  Jesus  and  his  disci- 
ples had  concealed  themselves.  Struck  with  the  greatness 
of  his  miracles  on  those  who  were  sick,  and  anxious  to  hear 
more  instruction  from  the  mouth  of  so  divine  a  Teacher,  no 
difficulties  were  too  great  for  them  to  surmount,  nor  any 
place  too  retired  for  them  to  penetrate,  in  search  of  their 
admired  preacher. 

ISTor  was  the  beneficent  Saviour  of  the  world  regardless  of 
their  pious  esteem.  lie  saw  them;  he  was  "moved  with 
compassion"  toward  them,  because  they  were  as  sheep  not 
having  a  shepherd,  multitudes  of  people  without  a  pastor,  a 
large  harvest  without  laborers ;  motives  abundantly  sufficient 
to  excite  compassion  in  the  Son  of  God. 

The  situation  of  those  numerous  throngs  of  people,  scat- 
tered abroad,  without  a  guide,  without  a  guardian ;  a  large 
flock  of  defenseless  sheep,  without  a  single  shepherd  to  de- 
defend  them  from  the  jaws  of  the  internal  wolf,  was  truly 
deplorable;  the  blessed  Jesus,  therefore,  that  "good  Shepherd, 
who  came  to  lay  down  his  life  for  the  sheep,"  was  moved 
with  pity  toward  them ;  the  same  pity  which  brought  him 
from  the  courts  of  heaven  for  the  sake  of  his  lost  and  Avan- 
dering  sheep  in  the  desert,  now  brought  him  to  this  multitude 
of  people,  whom  he  instructed  in  the  doctrines  of  eternal 
life  ;  and  with  his  usual  goodness,  healed  all  the  sick  among 
them. 

Intently  devoted  to  teaching  and  healing  the  people,  our 
blessed  Saviour  did  not  seem  to  notice  the  day  to  wear  away, 


174  CHRIST. 

and  tliat  the  greatest  part  of  it  was  already  spent ;  but  liis 
disciples,  too  anxious  about  the  things  of  this  world,  thought 
proper  to  advise  him  of  it ;  as  if  the  Son  of  God  wanted  any 
directions  from  man.  The  day,  said  his  disciples,  is  now  far 
advanced,  and  the  place  a  solitary  desert,  where  neither  food 
nor  lodging  can  be  procured  ;  it  would  therefore  be  conven- 
ient to  dismiss  the  people,  that  they  may  repair  to  the  towns 
or  villages  on  the  borders  of  the  wilderness,  and  provide 
themselves  with  food  and  lodging,  for  they  have  nothing  to 
eat. 

But  our  Lord  prevented  that  trouble,  by  telling  them  there 
was  no  necessity  for  sending  the  people  away,  to  procure 
victuals  for  themselves,  as  they  might  satisfy  the  hunger  of 
the  multitude,  by  giving  them  to  eat.  And  at  the  same  time, 
to  prove  what  opinion  the  disciples  entertained  of  his  power, 
addressed  himself  to  Phihp,  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  country,  and  said,  "  Whence  shall  we  buy  bread  that 
these  may  eat?" 

Philip,  astonished  at  the  seeming  impossibility  of  procuring 
a  supply  for  so  great  a  multitude,  with  the  small  sum  of 
mone}^  which  he  knew  was  their  all,  and  forgetting  the  extent 
of  his  Master's  power,  answered,  "  Two  hundred  pennyworth 
of  bread  is  not  sufficient  for  them,  that  every  one  may  take 
a  little."  Our  blessed  Saviour  might  now  have  put  the  same 
question  to  Philip  that  he  did  on  another  occasion,  "  Have  I 
been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known 
me,  Philip?"  Hast  thou  beheld  so  many  miracles,  and  art 
still  ignorant  that  I  can  supply  food  not  only  for  this  people, 
but  for  all  the  sons  of  men,  and  for  "the  cattle  upon  a  thou- 
sand hills  ?"  But  he  contented  himself  with  answering, 
"  Give  3'e  them  to  eat."  The  twelve,  not  yet  comprehending 
the  design  of  their  Master,  repeated  the  objection  of  Philip, 
but  added,  that  they  were  willing  to  expend  their  whole 
stock,  in  order  to  procure  as  large  a  supply  as  possible. 
"  Shall  we  go,"  said  they,  "  and  buy  two  hundred  penny- 
worth of  bread,  that  they  may  eat  ?"  But  this  was  by  no 
means  the  design  of  their  great  Master,  who,  instead  of 
•naking  a  direct  answer  to  their  question,  asked  them,  "  How 


CHRIST.  175 

many  loaves  have  ye  ?"     How  mucli  provision  can  be  found 
among  this  multitude  ?     Go  and  see. 

Tlie  disciples  obeyed  the  command  of  their  Master,  and 
Andrew  soon  returned  to  inform  him  that  the  whole  stock 
amounted  to  no  more  than  five  barley  loaves  and  two  small 
fishes — a  quantity  so  inconsiderable,  that  they  scarcely  de- 
served notice.  "  What  are  they,"  said  his  disciples,  "  among 
so  many  ?"  What,  indeed,  would  they  have  been  among 
such  a  multitude  of  people,  if  they  had  not  been  distributed 
by  the  creating  hand  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 

Jesus,  notwithstanding  the  number  was  so  small,  ordered 
them  to  be  brought  to  him,  and  immediately  commanded  the 
multitude  to  sit  down  on  the  grass,  with  which  the  place 
abounded,  directing  his  disciples  at  the  same  time  to  range 
them  in  a  regular  order,  by  hundreds  and  fifties  in  a  com- 
pany, each  company  forming  a  long  square,  containing  a  hun- 
dred in  rank,  and  fifty  in  file,  that  the  number  might  be  more 
easily  ascertained,  and  the  people  more  regularly  served.  In 
obedience  to  his  command,  the  people  sat  down  in  the  man 
ner  they  were  ordered,  big  with  the  expectation  of  what  this 
uncommon  preparation  portended,  while  the  great  Master  of 
the  banquet  stood  ready  to  supply  the  necessities  of  all  his 
guests ;  a  banquet  where,  though  they  had  no  canopy  but  the 
azure  sky,  no  table  but  the  verdant  turf,  where  their  food 
was  only  coarse  barley-bread  and  dried  fishes,  and  their 
drink  only  water  from  a  bubbling  fountain,  yet  displayed 
more  real  grandeur  by  the  presence  of  the  Divine  Master  of 
it,  than  the  royal  feast  of  the  gorgeous  Ahashuerus,  or  the 
splendid  entertainment  of  the  imperious  Nebuchadnezzar. 

The  multitude  being;  seated,  Jesus  took  the  loaves  and 
fishes  into  his  hands,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people,  that  they 
might  be  convinced  of  the  small  quantity  of  provisions  that 
were  then  before  them,  and  that  they  could  only  expect  to  be 
fed  by  his  supernatural  power.  But  that  hand  which  had 
constantly  sustained  nature,  could  now  easily  multiply  these 
five  loaves  and  two  fishes;  for,  as  the  Psalmist  elegantly 
observes,  "  He  openeth  his  hand,  and  filleth  all  things  living 
with  plenteousness."     Accordingly,  he  looked  up  to  heaven, 


176  CHRIST. 

returned  thanks  to  God,  the  liberal  giver  of  all  good  things, 
for  his  infinite  benevolence  in  furnishing  food  for  all  flesh, 
and  for  the  power  he  had  conferred  on  him,  of  relieving 
mankind  by  his  miracles,  particularly  for  that  he  was  about 
to  work. 

This  done,  he  blessed  them ;  and  so  particularly  efficacious 
Avas  his  blessing,  that  these  five  barley-loaves  and  two  small 
fishes  were  multiplied  into  a  quantity  sufiicient  to  supply  the 
wants  of  five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  children, 
who,  on  the  most  favorable  supposition,  must  amount  to  an 
equal  number. 

Thus  did  the  compassionate  Redeemer  feed  at  least  ten 
thousand  people  with  five  barley-loaves  and  two  small  fishes, 
giving  a  magnificent  proof  both  of  his  power  and  goodness. 
For  when  all  had  eaten  to  satiety,  they  took  up  twelve  baskets 
full  of  the  broken  pieces;  a  much  larger  quantity  than  was 
at  first  set  before  our  Lord  to  divide. 

Miraculous  work !  But  what  is  too  hard  for  God ! — what 
is  impossible  to  Omnipotence  ! 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  time  and  place  tended  to  magnify 
its  greatness.  The  place  was  a  desert,  where  there  was  no 
possibility  of  procuring  any  sustenance. 

Had  he  done  this  mighty  work  in  any  of  the  towns  or  vil- 
lages round  about,  the  Pharisees  in  those  days,  and  the  infidel 
of  ours,  might  have  objected  that  he  received  secretly  some 
supplies ;  but  this  in  the  present  case  was  impossible.  The 
time  was  the  evening ;  the  people  had  been  all  the  day  fast- 
ing, and  consequently  Avere  ready  for  their  meal.  Had  it 
been  done  in  the  morning,  they  might  have  said,  either  that 
the  people  had  been  just  refreshed,  or  were  not  hungr}'-,  and 
consequentl}^,  the  miracle  not  great.  But  the  time  and  place 
Avholly  removed  all  objections  of  this  kind,  and  proved, 
beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt,  that  "  God  can  furnish  a 
table  in  the  wilderness." 

Tlie  people  were  astonished  above  measure  at  the  stupen- 
dous miracle,  and,  in  the  height  of  their  transport,  proposed 
to  take  Jesus  by  force,  and  make  him  a  king,  concluding 
that  he  must  then  assume  the  title  of  the  Messiah,  Avhose 


CHRIST.  177 

coming  they  had  so  long  expected,  and  under  whose  reigu 
they  looked  for  all  kinds  of  temporal  felicities.  But  our 
Lord,  -well  knowing  the  intentions  of  the  multitude,  and  the 
inclinations  of  his  disciples  to  second  them,  ordered  the  latter 
to  repair  immediately  to  their  boats,  and  sail  for  Bethsaida, 
while  he  sent  away  the  multitude. 

Tliey  would,  it  seems,  gladly  detained  the  people,  with 
whom  they  fully  agreed  in  sentiments;  and  even  lingered 
till  ne  constrained  them  to  get  into  the  boat ;  so  fully  were 
they  still  possessed  with  the  idea  that  their  Master  was  to 
take  the  reins  of  government,  and  become  a  powerful  prince 
over  the  house  of  Jacob. 

The  people  suffered  the  disciples  to  depart,  without  the 
least  remorse,  as  thc}^  saw  that  Jesus  did  not  go  with  them. 
Perhaps  they  imagined  he  was  sending  them  away  to  provide 
such  things  as  they  had  need  of.  Nor  did  they  refuse  to  dis- 
perse when  he  commanded,  purposing  to  return  in  the  morn- 
ing, as  we  find  they  actually  did. 

Having  thus  sent  the  disciples  and  the  multitude  away, 
Jesus  repaired  himself  to  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  spend- 
ing the  evening  in  heavenly  contemplations,  and  ardent 
prayers  to  his  Almighty  Father. 

But  the  disciples  meeting  with  a  contrary  wind,  could  not 
continue  their  course  to  Bethsaida,  which  lay  about  two 
leagues  to  the  northward  of  the  desert  mountain,  where  the 
multitude  were  miraculously  fed. 

They,  however,  did  all  in  their  power  to  land  as  near  that 
city  as  possible,  but  were  tossed  up  and  down  all  night  by 
the  tempest,  so  that  in  the  fourth  watch,  or  between  three 
and  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  they  were  not  above  a  league 
from  the  shore. 

Their  divine  Master  beheld  from  the  mountain  the  dis- 
tressed situation  in  which  tliey  were ;  but  they  were  ignorant 
of  his  presence,  though  he  was  now  coming  to  their  relief. 
From  hence  we  should  learn,  when  the  stormy  billows  of 
affliction  assault,  and  seem  ready  to  overwhelm  us,  not  to 
despair  of  relief;  for  He  who  beholds  every  particular  of  our 

distress,  and  "hath  not  forgotten  to  be  gracious,"  will  surely 

12 


178  CHRIST. 

come  to  our  help,  and  work  out  our  deliverance  in  a  manner 
altogether  unexpected. 

He  often  calms  the  storm  of  affliction  that  surrounds  us, 
and  commands  the  threatening  waves  of  trouble  to  subside. 

Human  wisdom,  indeed,  is  often  at  a  loss  ;  it  can  discover 
no  hopes  of  deliverance,  nor  see  any  way  to  escape ;  but  the 
Almighty  can  easily  affect  the  one,  and  point  out  the  other. 

Such  was  the  state  of  the  disciples ;  they  were  tossed  by 
boisterous  waves,  and  opposed  in  their  course  by  the  rapid 
current  of  the  wind ;  so  that  all  hopes  of  reaching  the  place 
intended  were  vanished;  when,  behold!  their  heavenly 
Master,  to  assist  them  in  their  distressful  situation,  comes  to 
them,  walking  on  the  foaming  surface  of  the  sea.  Their 
Lord's  approach  filled  them  with  astonishment;  they  took 
him  for  an  apparition,  and  shrieked  for  fear. 

Their  terrors  were,  however,  soon  removed;  their  great 
and  affectionate  Master  talked  to  them,  with  the  sound  of 
whose  voice  they  were  perfectly  acquainted.  "Be  of  good 
cheer,"  said  the  blessed  Jesus;  "it  is  I;  be  not  afraid." 

This  miracle  alarmed  the  disciples,  for  though  they  had  so 
very  lately  seen  the  miracle  of  the  five  loaves,  they  did  not 
seem  to  have  before  formed  a  proper  idea  of  his  power ;  but 
being  now  persuaded  that  he  could  be  no  other  than  the 
expected  Messiah,  they  "  came  and  worshiped  him,  saying. 
Of  a  truth  thou  art  the  Son  of  God." 

Our  Saviour  seems  to  have  confirmed  this  miracle  by 
working  another ;  for  the  evangelist  tells  us  that  he  had  no 
sooner  entered  the  ship,  and  hushed  the  horrors  of  the  storm, 
than  they  arrived  at  the  place  whither  they  were  going. 

When  our  Lord  disembarked,  the  inhabitants  of  the  neigh- 
boring country  ran  to  him,  bringing  with  them  all  those  who 
were  sick ;  and  they  were  all  healed. 

It  must  be  remarked  that,  though  ordinarily  Jesus  resided 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Capernaum,  yet  he  had  been  absent 
ever  since  his  visiting  Nazareth ;  and  therefore  it  is  natural 
to  think  that  the  inhabitants,  on  his  return,  would  not  omit 
the  opportunity  of  bringing  their  sick  in  such  prodigious 
crowds,  tliat  it  seems  our  blessed  Saviour  did  not  bestow 


CHRIST.  179 

particular  attention  on  each  of  them ;  and  this  was  the  reason 
of  their  beseeching  him  "that  they  might  only  touch  the 
hera  of  his  garment :  and  as  many  as  were  touched  were 
made  perfectly  whole." 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  our  blessed  Saviour,  after 
miraculously  feeding  the  people,  ordered  them  to  disperse, 
and  retire  to  their  places  of  abode.  The  former  command 
they  obeyed,  but,  instead  of  complying  with  the  latter,  they 
staid  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  desert  mountain ;  and  ob- 
serving that  no  boat  had  come  thither  since  the  disciples  left 
their  Master,  concluded  that  Jesus  still  continued  in  that 
place,  and  had  no  design  of  leaving  his  attendants.  Hence, 
they  were  persuaded  that,  though  Jesus  had  modestly  de- 
clined the  honor  of  being  made  a  king,  he  would  accept  it 
the  next  day;  especially  as  they  might  fancy  his  disciples 
were  dispatched  to  the  other  side,  with  no  other  intention 
than  to  prepare  every  thing  necessary  for  that  purpose. 
Hopes  like  these  animated  them  to  continue  in  this  solitary 
wilderness,  and  take  up  their  lodgings  in  the  caverns  of  the 
rocks  and  mountains,  notwithstanding  their  difficulties  were 
greatly  increased  by  the  raging  of  the  storm.  But  no  sooner 
did  the  cheering  rays  of  light  appear,  than  the  multitude  left 
their  retreat,  and  searched  for  Jesus  in  every  part  of  the 
mountain,  to  the  summit  of  which  they  had  seen  him  retire. 

Finding  their  search  in  vain,  they  concluded  that  he  must 
have  departed  for  the  other  side  in  some  boat  belonging  to 
'  Tiberias,  which  had  been  forced  by  the  storm  to  take  shelter 
in  a  creek  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 

Accordingly,  they  repaired  to  Capernaum,  where  they 
found  him  in  the  synagogue,  teaching  the  people  ;  and  could 
not  help  asking  him,  with  some  surprise,  "Eabbi,  when 
camest  thou  hither  ?" 

To  this  question  our  Lord  replied,  that  they  did  not  seek 
him  because  they  were  convinced,  by  his  miracles,  of  the 
truth  of  his  mission,  but  because  they  hoped  to  be  continu- 
ally fed  in  the  same  manner  as  before.  "  Yerily,  verily,  I 
say  unto  you,  ye  seek  me,  not  because  ye  saw  the  miracles, 
but  because  ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves,  and  were  filled."    Many 


180  CHEIST. 

of  tlie  Jews  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  doctrines  he  there 
delivered ;  and  having  heard  him  describe  the  properties  of 
the  celestial  bread,  they  were  animated  with  an  earnest  desire 
of  being  always  fed  with  it;  "Lord,"  said  they,  "evermore 
give  us  this  bread ;"  to  which  the  blessed  Jesus  answered, 
"  I  am  the  bread  of  life ;  he  that  cometh  to  me  shall  never 
hunger  ;  and  he  that  believeth  on  me  shall  never  thirst." 

Having  asserted  the  dignity  of  his  mission,  and  demon- 
strated that  it  really  belonged  to  him,  the  blessed  Jesus  ex- 
amined the  comparison  between  himself,  considered  as  the 
bread  from  heaven,  and  the  manna  which  Moses  provided  for 
their  fathers  in  the  howling  wilderness.  The  manna,  said  he, 
which  your  fathers  ate  in  the  desert,  could  not  preserve  them 
from  temporal  death ;  but  the  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven  will  render  man  eternally  happ}'"! 

The  self-sufficient,  self-righteous  Jews  were  so  offended  at 
this  discourse,  that  many  of  them,  who  had  hitherto  been 
our  Saviour's  disciples,  went  out  of  the  synagogue,  and  never 
came  more  to  hear  him.  They  found  that  all  their  pleasing 
views  of  worldly  grandeur,  and  an  extensive  kingdom,  could 
have  nothing  more  than  an  ideal  foundation,  if  they  acknowl- 
edged Jesus  to  be  the  Messiah. 

But  as  they  were  unwilling  to  abandon  all  their  favorite 
hopes  of  power,  they  refused  to  own  him  for  the  great  Re- 
deemer of  Israel  they  had  so  long  expected. 

When  the  Jews  were  departed,  Jesus  turned  himself  to 
his  disciples,  and,  with  a  look  of  ineffable  sweetness,  said  to 
them,  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?"  To  this,  Peter  answered, 
"  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eter- 
nal life.  And  we  believe,  and  are  sure,  that  thou  art  that 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

Peter  in  this  reply  alluded  to  our  Lord's  declaration  of 
himself,  in  which  he  said  that  he  was  the  bread  of  life,  found- 
ing his  faith  in  him  as  the  Messiah.  But  Jesus,  to  convince 
them  that  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  secret  thoughts  of  the 
heart,  nor  afraid  that  his  enemies  should  be  spectators  of  his 
most  retired  actions,  told  him  that  one  of  the  twelve  was  a 
wicked  man,  and  would  be  guilty  of  the  vilest  action.     The 


CHRIST.  181 

prediction  of  Jesus  was  punctually  verified  wlien  Judas  Is- 
cariot,  one  of  the  twelve  chosen  disciples,  basely  betrayed 
his  great  Lord  and  Master. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

JESUS  CONTINUES  TO  DISPLAY  HIS  POWER  AND  BENEVOLENCE;    DELEGATES 

A  SPECIAL  POWER  TO  PETER ;  PRONOUNCES  THE  PINAL  JUDGMENT 

OF  THE  WORLD :  REPROVES  THE  PRIDE  OF  HIS  DISCIPLES, 

AND  TEACHES  THEII  HUMILITY. 

^jHE  season  of  the  grand  passover  approaching, 
Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem  to  attend  that  solem- 


nity. 

But  the  Jews,  being  offended  at  his  discourse 
in  the  synagogue  of  Capernaum,  made  an  attempt 
upon  his  life.  Our  Lord,  therefore,  finding  it  impossible  to 
remain  at  Jerusalem  in  safety,  departed  from  that  city,  and 
retired  into  Galilee. 

The  Pharisees  were  sensible  they  could  not  perpetrate  their 
malicious  designs  upon  him  upon  that  occasion;  yet  they 
followed  him,  hoping  they  might  find  something  by  which 
they  might  accuse  him,  and  at  length  ventured  to  attack  him 
for  permitting  his  disciples  to  eat  with  unwashed  hands, 
because  in  so  doing  they  transgressed  the  tradition  of  the 
elders.  To  expose  the  absurdity  of  such  superstitious  cus- 
toms, our  Saviour  applied  to  them  the  words  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah :  "  This  people  honoreth  me  with  their  lips,  but  their 
heart  is  far  from  me." 

Having  thus  reproved  the  Pharisees,  he  called  the  multi- 
tude to  him,  and  desired  them  to  reflect  on  the  absurdity  of 
the  precepts  inculcated  by  the  Scribes.  These  hypocrites, 
said  he,  solicitous  about  trifles,  neglect  the  great  duties  of 
morality,  which  are  of  eternal  obligation.  They  shudder 
with  horror  at  unwashed  hands,  but  are,  perfectly  easy  under 
the  guilt  of  a  polluted  conscience  ;  the  ngh  they  must  be  sen- 
sible that  •'  not  that  which  goeth  into  the  mouth  defileth  the 


182  CHRIST. 

man;  but  that  -whicli  cometh  out  of  the  mouth,  this  defilelh 
the  man." 

These  doctrines  of  the  truth  could  not  fail  of  irritating  the 
Pharisees,  as  they  tended  to  strip  them  of  the  mask  with 
which  thej  concealed  their  deformity,  and  i"endered  them- 
selves so  venerable  in  the  eyes  of  the  vulgar ;  and  therefore 
their  plots  were  leveled  against  his  reputation  and  life. 

Jesus,  to  avoid  their  malice,  retired  to  the  very  borders  of 
Palestine,  to  the  coast  of  those  two  celebrated  Gentile  cities, 
Tj^re  and  Sidon,  purposing  there  to  conceal  himself  for  a 
time  ;  but  he  could  not  be  hid. 

It  was  as  impossible  for  the  "  Sun  of  Eighteousness"  to  be 
concealed  wherever  he  came  with  his  healing  wings  and  mes- 
sage of  peace,  as  it  is  for  the  sun  in  the  firmament,  when  he 
riseth  in  all  his  glory,  "  as  a  bridegroom  cometh  out  of  his 
chamber,  and  as  a  giant  rejoicing  to  run  his  course."  For  a 
certain  woman  of  Canaan,  having  heard  of  him,  determined 
to  implore  his  assistance.  She  was  indeed  one  of  the  most 
abject  sort  of  Gentiles,  a  Canaanite,  one  of  that  detested  race 
with  which  the  Jews  would  have  no  dealing,  nor  even  con- 
versation ;  but,  notwithstanding  all  these  discouraging  cir- 
cumstances, she  threw  herself,  as  an  humble  petitioner,  on 
the  never-failing  mercies  of  the  Son  of  God.  Strong  neces- 
sity urged  her  on ;  grief  and  insuperable  distress  caused  her 
to  be  importunate.  Alas  !  unhappy  parent !  her  only  daugh- 
ter, her  beloved  child,  had  an  unclean  spirit, — "  was  griev- 
ously vexed  with  a  devil."  When  her  case  was  so  urgent, 
and  her  woes  so  poignant,  who  can  wonder  that  she  was  so 
importunate,  and  would  take  no  refusal  from  this  divine  per- 
son, whom  she  knew  was  able  to  deliver  her!  Accordingly 
she  came, — she  fell  at  his  feet,  she  besought  him,  she  cried, 
saying,  "  Have  mercy  on  me,  0  Lord,  thou  Son  of  David," 
have  mercy !  I  plead  no  merits ;  as  a  worthless,  suffering 
wretch,  I  entreat  only  the  bowels  of  thy  mercy ;  I  entreat  it, 
for  I  believe  thee  to  be  the  Son  of  David,  the  promised  Mes- 
siah, the  much  desired  Saviour  of  the  world  ;  have  mercy  on 
me,  for  the  case  of  my  child  and  her  distresses  are  my  own. 

Is  it  not  at  the  first  view  astonishing  that  such  a  petitioner 


CHRIST. 


183 


should  be  apparently  rejected ;  and  that  by  a  merciful  and 
bountiful  Eedeemer,  who  kindly  invited  all  that  were  heavy- 
laden  to  come  to  him ;  who  promised  to  cast  out  none  that 
would  come,  and  whose  business  it  was  "  to  go  about  doing 
good?" 

We,  however,  find  that  he  answered  this  woman  not  a 
word ;  he  did  not,  in  appearance,  take  the  least  notice  either 
of  her  or  her  distress !  But  this  silence  did  not  intimidate 
her  ;  she  still  cried,  she  still  besought,  she  still  importunately 
pressed  her  petition  ;  so  that  the  very  disciples  were  moved 
with  her  cries,  and  became  her  advocates.  They  themselves, 
though  Jews,  besought  their  Master  to  dismiss  this  petitioner, 
— to  grant  her  request,  and  to  send  her  away. 

But  Jesus  soon  silenced  them  by  an  answer  agreeable  to 
their  own  prejudices.  "  I  am  not  sent,"  said  he,  "  but  unto 
the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel."  To  this  the  disciples 
readily  assented;  and  as  they  had  a  high  opinion  of  the 
Jews'  prerogative,  were  so  well  satisfied  with  the  answer, 
that  Ave  hear  them  pleading  no  more  for  this  lost,  this  miser- 
able Gentile.  But  this  soothed  not  her  griefs ;  it  was  her 
own  cause,  and  what  is  immediately  our  own  concern,  ani- 
mates us  to  the  most  zealous  application.  Somewhat  encour- 
aged that  she  was  the  subject  of  discourse  between  our  Lord 
and  his  disciples,  she  ventured  to  ap|5roach  the  Saviour  of 
the  world,  though  she  well  knew  that  custom  actually  forbade 
such  an  intercourse  ;  yet  she  came,  she  worshiped  this  "  Son 
of  David,"  she  confessed  again  his  divinity,  and  prayed,  say- 
ing, "  Lord,  help  me !"  The  compassionate  Saviour  now 
condescended  to  speak  to  her,  but  with  words  seemingly  suf- 
ficient to  have  discouraged  every  further  attempt;  nay,  to 
have  filled  her  with  bitter  dislike  to  his  person,  though  she 
had  conceived  such  high  and  noble  notions  of  his  mercy  and 
favor.  "It  is  not  meet,"  said  he,  "to  take  the  children's 
bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs."  It  is  not  justice  to  deprive 
the  Jews,  who  are  the  children  of  the  covenant,  the  descend- 
ants of  Abraham,  of  any  part  of  those  blessings  which  I 
came  into  the  world  to  bestow,  especially  to  you,  who  are 
aliens  and  strano;ers  to  the  commonwealth  of  Israel. 


184  CHRIST. 

This  answer,  liowever  severe,  could  not  shake  her  humility, 
nor  overcome  her  patience  ;  she  meekly  answered,  "  Truth, 
Lord ;  yet  the  dogs  eat  of  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their 
master's  table."  Let  me  enjoy  that  kindness  which  the  dogs 
of  any  family  are  not  denied ;  from  the  plenty  of  miraculous 
cures  which  thou  bestowest  on  the  Jews,  drop  this  one  to  me, 
who  am  a  poor  distressed  heathen ;  for  they  will  suffer  no 
greater  loss  by  it  than  the  children  of  a  family  do  by  the 
crumbs  which  are  cast  to  the  dogs. 

Our  Lord  having  put  the  woman's  faith  to  a  severe  trial, 
and  well  knowing  that  she  possessed  a  just  notion  of  his 
power  and  goodness,  as  well  as  of  her  own  un worthiness, 
wrought  with  pleasure  the  cure  she  solicited  in  behalf  of  her 
daughter ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  gave  her  faith  the  praise  it 
so  justly  deserved:  "0  woman,  great  is  thy  faith!  Be  it 
unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt  And  her  daughter  was  made 
whole  from  that  very  hour." 

After  performing  this  miracle,  Jesus  returned  to  the  sea  of 
Galilee,  through  the  regions  of  Decapolis.  In  this  country, 
a  man  was  brought  to  him  who  was  deaf,  and  had  an  imped- 
iment in  his  speech.  Objects  of  distress  were  always  treated - 
with  benevolence  by  the  holy  Jesus  :  but  as  the  people  now 
thronged  about  him,  in  expectation  that  he  would  soon  estab- 
lish his  kingdom,  he!"  thought  proper  to  take  the  man,  with 
his  relations,  aside  from  the  multitude ;  after  which  he  put 
his  fingers  in  his  ears,  and  touched  his  tongue,  that  the  deaf 
man,  who  could  not  be  instructed  by  language,  might  know 
from  whence  all  his  benefits  flowed.  He  then  *'  looked  up  to 
heaven,  and  sighed,  and  said  unto  him,  Ephphatha,  that  is, 
be  opened.  And  straightway  his  ears  were  opened,  and  the 
string  of  his  tongue  was  loosed,  and  he  spake  plain.  And 
he  charged  them  that  they  should  tell  no  man."  But,  not- 
withstanding they  were  enjoined  to  secresy,  the  man  or  his 
relations  published  it  in  every  part  of  the  country,  doubtless 
thinking  they  could  not  be  too  lavish  in  the  praises  of  so  great 
a  benefactor ;  especially  as  the  modesty  with  which  he  had 
performed  the  cure,  abundantly  demonstrated  that  his  sole 
view  was  the  benefit  of  the  human  race. 


CHRIST.  185 

This  rumor  gathered  the  multitude  round  him  in  Decap- 
olis ;  for  the  fame  of  his  miracles  was  extended  to  every  cor- 
ner of  the  country :  he  therefore,  to  avoid  these  prodigious 
croAvds  of  people,  retired  to  a  desert  mountain  near  the  sea 
of  Galilee.  But  the  solitary  retreats  of  the  wilderness  were 
unable  to  conceal  this  beneficent  Saviour  of  the  human  race. 
They  soon  discovered  his  retreat,  and  brought  him  from  all 
quarters  the  sick,  the  lame,  the  dumb,  the  blind,  and  the 
maimed.  The  sight  of  so  many  objects  in  distress  so  excited 
the  compassion  of  the  Son  of  God,  that  he  graciously  released 
them  from  all  their  complaints.  Miracles  like  these  could 
not  fail  of  astonishing  the  spectators,  especially  those  per- 
formed upon  the  dumb ;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  he 
not  only  conferred  on  these  the  faculty  of  hearing  and  pro- 
nouncing articulate  sounds,  but  conveyed  at  once  into  their 
minds  the  whole  language  of  their  country;  they  were 
instantly  acquainted  with  all  the  words  it  contained,  their 
significations,  their  forms,  their  powers,  and  their  uses ;  at 
the  same  time  they  enjoyed  the  habit  of  speaking  it  both 
fluently  and  copiously. 

This  was  surely  enough  to  demonstrate  to  the  most  stupid 
that  such  works  could  have  been  affected  by  nothing  less 
than  infinite  power. 

"The  multitude  wondered  when  they  saw  the  dumb  to 
speak,  the  maimed  to  be  whole,  the  lame  to  walk,  and  the 
blind  to  see ;  and  they  glorified  the  God  of  Israel." 

The  various  works  performed  by  the  blessed  Eedeemer 
detained  the  multitude  with  him  in  the  desert  three  days, 
during  which  time  they  consumed  all  the  provisions  they  had 
brought  into  this  solitary  place.  But  Jesus  would  not  send 
them  away  fasting,  lest  any  who  had  followed  him  so  far 
from  their  habitations,  should  faint  in  their  return.  Accord- 
ingly, he  again  exerted  his  almighty  power  to  feed  the  multi- 
tude a  second  time  in  the  wilderness. 

It  is  highly  worthy  of  notice,  the  great  wisdom  of  our 
blessed  Saviour,  in  choosing  to  spend  so  great  a  part  of  the 
time  he  executed  his  public  ministry,  in  the  wilderness  and 
m  solitary  places.     He  did  not  seek  the  applause  of  men, 


186  CHRIST. 

but  the  eternal  salvation  of  their  souls ;  and  therefore  often 
delivered  his  doctrines  in  the  silent  retreats  thereof;  in  con- 
sequence of  which,  he  was  followed  by  such  only  as  had  dis- 
positions adapted  for  profiting  by  his  instructions.  It  could 
not  be  supposed  that  many  of  different  dispositions  would 
accompany  him  into  solitudes,  where  they  were  to  sustain 
the  inconveniences  of  hunger  for  several  days  successively, 
and  be  at  the  same  time  exposed  to  all  the  inclemencies  of 
the  weather.  Those  only  who  were  desirous  of  instruction 
could  therefore  be  expected  to  follow  the  blessed  Jesus  into 
those  retired  parts ;  and  on  these,  doubtless,  his  doctrine  dis- 
tilled like  dew,  and  like  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb. 
Happy  mortals,  who  thus  exchanged  the  shallow  and  frothy 
streams  of  folly,  for  the  deep  and  salutary  rivers  of  eternal 
wisdom !  who  left  the  noise  and  bustle  of  covetous,  bigoted 
people,  for  the  calm  instructions  of  the  Son  of  God!  and 
exchanged  the  perishing  bread  of  this  world,  for  the  "  bread 
of  life — the  bread  that  came  down  from  heaven," 

After  feeding  the  multitude  miraculously,  Jesus  retired 
into  a  district  called  Dalmanutha,  a  part  of  the  territory  of 
Magdala.  Here  he  was  visited  by  the  Pharisees,  who,  hav- 
ing heard  that  he  had  a  second  time  fed  the  multitude  mirac- 
ulously, were  fearful  that  the  common  people  would  acknowl- 
edge him  for  the  Messiah ;  and  therefore  determined  openly 
and  publicly  to  confute  his  pretensions  to  that  character. 

In  order  to  do  this,  they  boldly  demanded  of  him  a  sign 
from  heaven;  for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Jews 
expected  the  Messiah  would  make  his  first  public  appearance 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  and  in  a  glorious  manner  establish 
a  temporal  kingdom. 

If  the  minds  of  the  Pharisees  had  been  open  to  conviction, 
the  proofs  which  Jesus  was  daily  giving  them  would  have 
been  more  than  sufficient  to  establish  the  truth  of  his  mis- 
sion, and  demonstrate  that  he  was  the  long-expected  Messiah. 
But  they  were  not  desirous  of  being  convinced,  and  to  that 
alone,  and  not  to  want  of  evidence,  or  of  capacity  in  them- 
selves, it  was  owing  that  they  refused  to  acknowledge  our 
Saviour  to  be  the  person  foretold  by  the  prophets.     Their 


CHRIST.  187 

disposition  was  absolutely  incorrigible,  so  that  Jesus  sighed 
deeply  in  his  spirit,  and  declared  that  the  sign  they  sought 
should  never  be  given  them ;  and  that  the  only  sign  they 
were  to  expect  was  that  of  the  propliet  Jonas,  or  the  miracle 
of  his  own  resurrection — a  sign,  indeed,  much  greater  than 
any  shown  by  the  ancient  prophets ;  and  consequently,  a 
sign  which  demonstrated  that  Jesus  was  far  superior  to  them 
all. 

Having  thus  reproved  the  impertinent  curiosity  of  the 
Pharisees,  he  departed  with  his  disciples,  and  entered  into  a 
ship ;  and  as  they  sailed,  he  cautioned  them  to  beware  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  which  he  termed 
leaven,  from  its  pernicious  influence  in  filling  the  minds  of 
men  with  pride,  and  other  irregular  prejudices, — these  hypo- 
crites chiefly  insisting  on  the  observation  of  frivolous  tradi- 
tions, but  neglecting  the  true  principles  of  piety,  and  hence 
filling  the  minds  of  their  disciples  with  a  high  opinion  of 
their  own  sanctity. 

But  the  disciples,  hating  forgotten  to  take  bread  with 
them,  understood  that  he  intended  to  caution  them  against 
procuring  it  from  the  heathens  or  Samaritans.  They  were  so 
weak  as  not  to  think  that  their  Master,  who  had  fed  some 
thousands  of  people  with  five  loaves,  was  also  capable  of  pro- 
viding for  them  in  their  necessities. 

On  his  landing  at  Bethsaida,  they  brought  unto  him  a 
blind  man,  desiring  that  he  would  heal  him ;  Jesus  accord- 
ingly took  the  man  by  the  hand,  and  led  him  out  of  the  ci^, 
and  having  spat  upon  his  eyes,  and  put  his  hands  upon  him, 
asked  him  if  he  saw  aught.  To  which  the  man  answered, 
"  I  see  men  as  trees  walking ;"  a  very  proper  expression  to 
convey  an  idea  of  the  indistinctness  of  his  vision.  Jesus 
then  put  his  hands  again  upon  him,  and  he  was  restored  to 
sight,  "and  saw  every  man  clearly." 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  people  of  Bethsaida  had, 
by  their  ingratitude,  impenitence,  and  infidelity,  greatly  dis- 
pleased the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  and  this  perhaps  was  the 
reason  why  Jesus  would  not  perform  the  cure  in  the  city,  but 
led  the  man  out  into  the  adjacent  plain.     The  people  had  also 


188  CHRIST. 

for  a  long  time  been  solicitious  tliat  lie  would  take  upon  him 
self  the  character  of  a  temporal  Messiah,  and  therefore  he 
chose  to  perform  this  miracle  without  the  city ;  to  prevent 
their  further  importunity,  so  incompatible  with  the  modesty 
and  lowliness  of  our  dear  Lord  and  Master. 

Jesus  having  displayed  his  poAver  and  goodness  in  restor- 
ing the  blind  man  to  his  sight,  the  blessed  Lord  departed 
from  Bethsaida,  and  returned  into  the  territory  of  Csesarea 
Phillipi ;  where,  being  desirous  of  proving  in  some  measure 
the  faith  of  the  apostles,  he  asked  them,  saying,  "  Whom  do 
men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  Man,  am  ?"  In  answer  to  this 
question,  the  disciples  replied,  "  Some  say  that  thou  art  John 
the  Baptist,  some  Elias,  and  others  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the 
prophets."  The  people  in  general  mistook  the  character  of 
our  Saviour,  because  he  did  not  assume  that  outward  pomp 
and  grandeur  with  which  they  supposed  the  Messiah  would 
be  adorned.  Jesus  was  therefore  desirous  of  hearing  what 
idea  his  disciples  formed  of  his  character,  as  they  had  long 
enjo3^ed  the  benefit  of  his  doctrine  >iind  miracles,  and  accord- 
ingly asked  them  what  they  themselves  understood  him  to  be. 
To  this  question  Simon  Peter  replied,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

Our  Saviour  acknowledged  the  title,  telling  Peter  that  God 
alone  had  revealed  the  secret  unto  him.  And  in  allusion  to 
his  surname,  "  Peter,"  which  signifies  a  "  Rock,"  our  Saviour 
promised  that  he  should  have  a  principal  hand  in  establishing 
his  kingdom,  and  that  the  christian  church  should  be  erected 
on  his  labors,  as  on  a  solid  foundation,  never  to  be  destroyed. 

Having  delegated  this  power  to  Peter,  our  Saviour  strictly 
forbade  his  disciples  to  tell  any  man  that  he  was  the  Messiah, 
because  it  had  been  foretold  by  the  prophets  that  he  should 
be  rejected  by  the  rulers  of  Israel  as  a  false  Christ,  and  suffer 
the  pains  of  death ;  circumstances  which  could  not  fail  of 
giving  his  followers  great  offense,  as  they  did  not  yet  under- 
stand the  true  nature  of  his  kingdom;  and  therefore  he 
thought  proper  to  let  every  man  form  a  judgment  of  his 
mission  from  his  doctrines  and  miracles. 

The  foregoing  discourses  had,  doubtless,  filled  the  apostles' 


CHRIST.  189 

minds  with  lofty  imaginations,  and  therefore  our  Saviour 
thought  proper  to  acquaint  them  with  his  sufferings,  in  order 
to  check  any  fond  expectations  of  temporal  power.  Peter, 
however,  was  greatly  displeased  to  hear  his  Master  talk  of 
dying  at  Jerusalem,  when  he  had  just  before  accepted  of  the 
title  of  Messiah.  Accordingly,  he  rebuked  him  for  the 
expression,  which  he  was  so  bold  as  to  think  unguarded. 
But  Jesus,  turning  himself  about,  said  to  Peter,  "  Get  thee 
behind  me,  Satan ;  thou  art  an  offense  unto  me ;  for  thou 
savorest  not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be  of 
men."  Peter's  conduct  in  this  respect  arose  from  an  immod- 
erate attachment  to  sensual  objects.  Our  Saviour  thought 
proper  to  declare  publicly  that  all  who  intended  to  share 
with  him  in  tlie  glory  of  the  heavenly  Canaan,  must  deny 
themselves ;  that  is,  they  must  be  always  ready  to  renounce 
every  worldly  pleasure,  and  even  life  itself,  when  the  cause 
of  religion  required  it ;  he  also  told  them  that  in  this  life 
they  must  expect  to  meet  with  troubles  and  disappointments ; 
and  that  whoever  intended  to  be  his  disciple,  "  must  take  up 
his  cross  daily,  and  follow  him." 

Thus  did  the  blessed  Jesus  explain  to  his  disciples  the  true 
nature  of  his  kingdom,  and  at  the  same  time  intimated  that 
though  they  had  already  undergone  many  afflictions,  yet 
they  must  expect  still  more,  and  greater,  which  they  must 
sustain  with  equal  fortitude,  following  their  Master  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  afflictions. 

To  add  to  the  weight  of  this  argument,  and  to  enforce  the 
necessity  of  self-denial,  our  Saviour  particularly  declared 
that  a  day  was  fixed  for  distributing  rewards  and  punish- 
ments to  all  the  human  race ;  and  that  he  himself  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Father,  as  universal  Judge;  so  that  his  ene- 
mies could  not  flatter  themselves  with  the  hope  of  escaping 
the  punishments  they  deserved,  nor  his  friends  be  afraid  of 
losing  their  reward. 

To  fortify  the  minds  of  his  disciples,  he  informed  them 
that  he  would  not  appear  to  judge  the  world  in  his  Ioav  and 
despised  condition,  but  magnificently  arrayed  in  both  his 
own  and  his  Father's  glory;  nor  attended  by  twelve  weak 


190  CHRIST. 

disciplei?,  but  surrounded  by  myriads  of  celestial  spirits,  with 
numberless  liosts  of  mighty  angels ;  nor  should  his  rewards 
be  the  great  offices  and  large  possessions  of  a  temporal  king- 
dom, but  the  joys  of  immortality. 

As  this  doctrine  of  Christ  being  appointed  the  universal 
Judge  might  appear  incredible  at  that  time,  on  account  of 
his  humiliation,  he  told  them  that  some  who  heard  him  speak 
should  not  taste  of  death  till  they  saw  him  coming  in  his 
kingdom.  There  are  some  here  present  that  shall  not  die  till 
they  see  a  faint  representation  of  the  glory  in  which  I  shall 
come  at  the  last  day,  and  an  eminent  example  of  my  power 
inflicted  on  the  men  of  this  sinful  generation.  To  verify 
which  prediction,  the  disciples  lived  to  see  their  Master 
coming  in  his  kingdom,  when  they  were  witnesses  of  his 
transfiguration,  resurrection,  and  ascension,  and  had  the 
miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  conferred  upon  them, — ■ 
lived  to  see  Jerusalem  with  the  Jewish  state  destroyed,  and 
the  gospel  propagated  through  the  greatest  part  of  the  then 
known  world. 

About  eight  days  after  this  discourse,  our  blessed  Saviour 
being  with  the  multitude  in  the  country  of  Ctesarea  Phillipi, 
he  left  them  in  the  plain,  and,  accompanied  by  Peter,  James, 
and  John,  ascended  an  exceedingly  high  mountain. 

In  this  solitude,  while  Jesus  was  praying  with  these  three 
disciples,  he  was  transfigured ;  his  face  became  radiant  and 
dazzling,  for  it  shone  like  the  sun  in  his  meridian  clearness. 
At  the  same  time  his  garment  acquired  a  snowy  whiteness, 
far  beyond  any  thing  human  art  could  produce, — a  whiteness 
bright  as  the  light,  and  sweetly  refulgent,  but  in  a  degree 
inferior  to  the  radiance  of  his  countenance.  Thus,  as  it  were, 
for  an  instant,  the  Son  of  God,  during  his  state  of  humilia- 
tion, suffered  the  glory  of  his  divinity  to  shine  through  the 
veil  of  human  nature  with  which  it  was  covered ;  and  to 
heighten  the  grandeur  and  solemnity  of  the  scene,  Moses,  the 
great  law-giver  of  Israel,  and  Elijah,  a  zealous  defender  of 
tlie  laws,  appeared  in  the  beauties  of  immortality,  the  robes 
in  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  heavenly  Canaan  are  adorned. 
The  disciples,  it  seems,  did  not  see  the  beginning  of  this 


CHRIST.  191 

transfiguration ;  happening  to  fall  asleep  at  the  time  of  prayer, 
they  lost  that  pleasure,  together  Avith  a  great  part  of  the  con- 
versation which  these  two  prophets  held  with  the  only-begot- 
ten Son  of  God. 

They,  however,  understood  that  the  subject  was  his  merito- 
rious sufferings  and  death,  by  which  he  was  to  redeem  the 
world, — a  subject  that  had  a  few  days  before  given  great 
offense  to  his  disciples,  particularly  to  Peter. 

At  beholding  this  illustrious  sight,  the  disciples  were 
greatly  amazed ;  but  the  forwardness  of  Peter's  disposition 
prompting  him  to  say  something,  he  uttered  he  knew  not 
what:  "Master,"  said  he,  "it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here:  and 
let  us  make  three  tabernacles ;  one  for  thee,  and  one  for 
Moses,  and  one  for  Elias."  This  disciple  imagined  that  Jesus 
had  now  assumed  his  proper  dignity ;  that  Elias  was  come 
according  to  Malachi's  prediction,  and  the  Messiah's  kingdom 
was  at  length  begun.  Accordingly,  he  thought  it  was  neces- 
sary to  provide  some  accommodation  for  his  Master  and  his 
august  assistants,  intending,  perhaps,  to  bring  the  rest  of  the 
disciples,  with  the  multitude,  from  the  plain  below,  to  behold 
his  matchless  glory.  This  he  thought  was  much  better  for 
his  Master  than  to  be  put  to  death  at  Jerusalem,  concerning 
which  Jesus  had  been  talking  with  the  messengers  from 
heaven,  and  the  design  of  which  Peter  could  not  comprehend. 

But,  "while  he  yet  spake,  behold,  a  bright  cloud  over- 
shadowed them,  and  behold  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud,  which 
said.  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased ; 
hear  ye  him."  When  the  three  disciples  heard  the  voice, 
which,  like  the  roaring  thunder,  burst  from  the  cloud,  and 
was  such  as  mortals  were  unaccustomed  to  hear,  they  fell  on 
their  faces,  and  continued  in  that  posture  till  Jesus  approached, 
who  raised  them  up,  and  dispelled  their  fears ;  saying  unto 
them,  "Arise,  and  be  not  afraid.  And  when  they  had  lifted 
up  their  eyes,  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only." 

Jesus  having  continued  all  night  with  his  three  disciples 
on  the  mountain,  returned  to  the  plain  early  in  the  morning, 
charging  them  to  conceal  what  they  had  seen  till  after  he  was 
risen  from  the  dead.     He  well  knew  that  the  world,  and  even 


192  CHRIST. 

his  o"wn  disciples,  were  not  yet  able  to  compreliend  the  de 
sign  of  his  transfiguration  ;  and  that,  if  it  had  been  published 
before  his  resurrection,  it  might  have  appeared  incredible; 
because  nothing  but  afflictions  and  persecutions  had  hitherto 
attended  him.  He  was  truly  "  a  man  of  sorrows,  and  ac- 
quainted with  grief"  But  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection, 
to  which  the  transfiguration  possibly  alluded,  was  what  the 
disciples  were  utterly  unable  to  understand. 

They  had  never  learned  that  the  Messiah  was  to  die ;  far 
less  that  he  was  to  be  raised  from  the  dead. 

They  were,  on  the  contrary,  persuaded  that  he  was  to 
abide  for  ever,  and  that  his  kingdom  was  to  have  no  end : 
they  were  also  greatly  surprised  at  the  sudden  departure  of 
Elias,  and  could  not  comprehend  what  the  Scribes  meant  by 
affirming  that  he  must  appear  before  thq,  Messiah  would 
erect  his  empire.  They,  therefore,  after  long  debating  among 
themselves,  asked  their  Master,  "  Why  say  the  Scribes  that 
Elias  must  first  come  ?"  To  which  Jesus  answered,  that  Elias 
should  truly  come  first,  according  to  the  prediction  of  Mala- 
chi,  "  and  restore  all  things ;"  but  at  the  same  time,  he 
assured  them  that  Elias  was  already  come,  and  described  the 
treatment  he  had  met  with  from  that  stiff-necked  people ; 
giving  them  to  understand  that  he  spake  of  John  the  Baptist. 

When  our  Lord  approached  the  descent  of  the  mountain, 
accompanied  by  his  three  disciples,  he  saw  a  great  multitude 
surrounding  the  nine  who  continued  in  the  plain,  and  the 
Scribes  disputing  with  them. 

The  people,  seeing  Jesus  coming  down  from  the  mountain, 
ran  to  him,  and  saluted  him  with  particular  reverence ;  after 
which,  Jesus  asked  the  Scribes  what  was  the  subject  of  their 
debate  with  his  disciples.  To  which  one  of  the  multitude 
answered,  "  Master,  I  have  brought  unto  thee  my  son,  who 
hath  a  dumb  spirit ;  and  wheresoever  he  taketh  him,  he 
teareth  him,  and  he  foameth  and  gnasheth  with  his  teeth, 
and  pineth  away ;  and  I  spake  to  thy  disciples  that  they 
should  cast  him  out,  and  they  could  not." 

This  answer  being  made  by  one  of  the  multitude,  and  not 
by  the  Scribes,  to  whom  the  question  was  directed,  indicates 


CHRIST.  193 

tliat  they  liad  been  disputing  witH  the  disciples  on  their  not 
being  able  to  cure  this  afflicted  youth.  Perhaps  their  making 
this  unsuccessful  attempt  had  given  the  Scribes  occasion  to 
boast  that  a  devil  was  at  length  found,  which  neither  they 
nor  their  Master  were  able  to  conquer. 

This  seems  to  be  indicated  by  the  manner  in  which  our 
Saviour  addressed  himself  to  these  arrogant  rulers :  "  Oh, 
faithless  generation !"  said  he,  "  how  long  shall  I  be  with 
you  ?  How  long  shall  I  suffer  you  ?"  Will  no  miracles  ever 
be  able  to  convince  you  ?  Must  I  always  bear  with  your 
infidelity?  You  have  surely  seen  sufficient  demonstrations 
of  my  power,  notwithstanding  ye  still  discover  the  most 
criminal  infidelity.  After  speaking  in  this  manner  to  the 
Scribes,  he  turned  himself  to  the  father  of  the  young  man, 
and  said,  "  Bring  thy  son  hither."  But  no  sooner  was  he 
brought  in  sight  of  his  deliverer,  than  the  evil  spirit  attacked 
him,  as  it  were,  with  double  fury  ;  "  the  spirit  tare  him,  and 
he  fell  on  the  ground,  and  wallowed,  foaming," 

Jesus  could  easily  have  prevented  this  attack ;  but  he  per- 
mitted it,  that  the  minds  of  the  spectators  might  be  impressed 
with  a  more  lively  idea  of  this  youth's  distress.  And  for  the 
same  reason,  probably,  it  was  that  he  asked  the  father  how 
long  he  had  been  in  this  deplorable  condition  ;  to  which  the 
afflicted  parent  answered,  "  Of  a  child." 

The  inability  of  our  Lord's  disciples  to  cast  out  this  spirit 
had  greatly  discouraged  the  afflicted  father,  and  the  exquisite 
torture  of  his  son,  and  the  remembrance  of  its  long  continu- 
ance, so  dispirited  him,  that  he  began  to  fear  this  possession 
was  even  too  great  for  the  power  of  Jesus  himself,  as  the 
Scribes  had  probably  before  affirmed,  and  therefore  could  not 
help  expressing  his  doubts  and  fears. 

But  Jesus,  to  make  him  sensible  of  his  mistake,  said  to 

him,  "  If  thou  canst  believe,  all  things  are  possible  to  him 

that  believeth,"     On  which  the  father  cried  out,  witli  tears, 

"Lord,  I  believe  ;  help  thou  mine  unbelief"     The  vehement 

manner  in  which  he  spake  causing  the  crowd  to  gather  from 

every  quarter,  Jesus  "  rebuked  the  foul  spirit,  saj'ing  unto 

him.  Thou  dumb  and  deaf  spirit,  I  charge  thee  to  come  out 

13 


194  CHRIST. 

of  bim,  and  enter  no  more  into  him."  ^o  sooner  was  tlie 
powerful  order  pronounced,  than  the  spirit,  with  a  hideous 
howling,  and  convulsing  the  suffering  patient  in  the  most 
deplorable  manner,  came  out,  leaving  the  youth  senseless 
and  without  motion ;  till  Jesus,  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
restored  him  to  life,  and  delivered  him  perfectly  recovered 
to  his  father. 

This  miracle  seems  to  have  astonished  the  disciples  more 
than  any  other  one  they  had  seen  their  Master  perform  ;  so 
that  our  Saviour  found  it  necessary  to  moderate  their  high 
admiration  of  his  works  by  again  predicting  his  own  death, 
and  retiring  for  a  time  into  the  unfrequented  parts  of 
Galilee. 

After  a  short  tour  through  the  desert  part  of  it,  Jesus 
returned  into  Capernaum,  the  place  of  his  general  residence. 
Soon  after  his  arrival,  the  tax-gatherers  came  to  Peter,  and 
asked  him  whether  his  Master  would  pay  the  tribute.  That 
disciple,  it  seems,  had  promised  that  Jesus  would  satisfy 
their  demand  ;  but  on  a  more  mature  consideration,  feared  to 
ask  him  concerning  his  paying  taxes  on  any  pretense  what- 
ever. Jesus  was,  however,  no  stranger  to  what  had  hap- 
pened, and  the  fear  of  Peter  to  ask  him;  and  therefore 
turned  his  discourse  to  this  subject,  by  saying  unto  him, 
"  What  thinkest  thou,  Simon  ?  Of  whom  do  the  kings  of 
the  earth  take  custom  or  tribute  ?  of  their  own  children,  or 
strangers  ?  Peter  saith  unto  him.  Of  strangers.  JesuS  said 
unto  him.  Then  are  the  children  free ;"  insinuating  that,  as 
he  was  himself  the  Son  of  the  great  King,  to  whom  heaven, 
earth,  and  the  sea  belong,  he  had  no  right  to  pay  tribute  to 
any  monarch  whatever,  because  he  held  nothing  by  a  derived 
right.  Or  if  we  suppose  this  contribution  was  made  for  the 
service  and  reparation  of  the  temple,  he  meant  that,  as  he 
was  himself  the  Son  of  that  Omnipotent  Being  to  whom  the 
tribute  was  paid,  he  could  justly  have  excused  himself. 
But  the  blessed  Jesus  was  always  careful  not  to  give 
olfense,  and  therefore  sent  Peter  to  the  lake  with  a  line 
and  a  hook,  telling  him  that  in  the  mouth  of  the  first  fish 
that  came  up  he  should  find  money  ;   "And  when  thou  hast 


CHRIST.  195 

opened  liis  mouth,"  said  he,   "  thou  shalt  find  a  piece  of 
money ;  that  take,  and  give  unto  them  for  me  and  thee." 

Our  Lord  took  this  extraordinary  method  of  paying  the 
tribute-money  in  this  manner,  because  the  miracle  was  of 
such  a  kind  as  could  not  fail  to  demonstrate  that  he  was  the 
Son  of  the  great  Monarch  worshiped  in  the  temple,  and  who 
rules  the  universe.  In  the  very  manner,  therefore,  of  paying 
this  tribute,  he  showed  Peter  that  he  was  free  from  all  taxes, 
and  at  the  same  time  gave  this  useful  lesson  to  his  followers, 
that  when  their  property  is  affected  only  in  a  small  degree,  it 
is  better  to  recede  a  little  from  their  just  right,  than  to  offend 
their  brethren,  or  disturb  the  state,  by  obstinately  insisting 
on  it. 

Notwithstanding  our  blessed  Saviour  had  lately  foretold 
his  own  sufferings  and  death,  and  though  these  melancholy 
accounts  had  greatly  afflicted  the  minds  of  his  disciples,  yet 
their  grief  was  of  no  long  continuance ;  for  within  a  few  days 
they  forgot  the  predictions  of  their  Master,  and  disputed  with 
each  other  about  the  chief  posts  of  honor  and  profit  in  the 
Messiah's  kingdom.  This  debate  was  overheard  by  the 
blessed  Jesus,  though  he  did  not  mention  it  till  after  the  tax- 
gatherers  had  retired,  when  he  asked  them  what  they  were 
disputing  about  on  the  way. 

This  question  rendered  them  all  silent.  They  were  fearful 
of  discovering  the  cause  that  had  given  rise  to  the  debate,  as 
they  linew  it  would  draw  on  them  a  reprimand  from  their 
Master.  Jesus,  perceiving  that  they  still  continued  silent, 
sat  down,  and  ordered  them  all  to  stand  round  him,  and 
attend  to  what  he  was  going  to  deliver. 

If  any  man,  said  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  is  ambitious  of 
being  the  greatest  person  in  my  kingdom,  let  him  endeavor 
to  obtain  that  dignity  by  preferring  others  in  honor,  and 
doing  to  them  all  the  good  offices  in  his  power.  "  If  any 
man  desire  to  be  first,"  said  he,  "the  same  shall  be  last  of 
all,  and  servant  of  all." 

And,  to  demonstrate  how  truly  acceptable  the  grace  of 
humility  is  to  the  Almighty,  he  took  a  child  in  his  arms, 
declarino;  that  whoever  humbled  themselves  like  a  little 


L96  CHRIST. 

child,  and  showed  kindness  to  their  fellow-creatures  for  his 
sake,  should  have  the  same  kindness  showed  them  in  the 
great  day  of  account,  especially  if  they  performed  these 
worthy  actions  in  obedience  to  his  commands 


CHAPTER   VII. 


ATTENDS  THE  PASSOVER  AT  JERUSALEM;    CALLS  PORTII  AND  SENDS  OUT 

SEVENTY  DISCIPLES  ;  RESIDES  WITH  MARTHA  AND  MARY,  TWO 

OBSCURE  WOMEN  AT  BETHANY  ;    SUCCESS  OF  HIS 

MINISTRY  BEYOND  JORDAN. 


Ij^[^j^^  AVING  promoted  his  Father's  work  in  Galilee, 
the  great  Eedeemer  departed  into  Judea,  that 


m 


the  Jews  who  inhabited  those  distant  parts 
might  enjoy  the  unspeakable  benefit  of  his  dis- 
courses and  miracles;  and,  after  sowing  the 
seeds  of  eternal  life,  and  publishing  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation in  those  remote  countries,  he  repaired  to  Jerusalem,  to 
celebrate  the  fourth  passover;  but  the  malignity  of  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  was  so  great,  that  he  staid  but  a  short 
time  in  the  capital,  and  then  returned  into  Galilee,  where  the 
multitude  again  resorted  to  him,  and  he  again  instructed 
them  in  the  paths  that  lead  to  everlasting  life. 

The  feast  of  tabernacles  now  drew  on,  when  all  the  males 
of  the  Jewish  nation,  capable  of  traveling,  repaired  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  dwelt  in  the  tabernacles,  or  booths,  made  of  the 
boughs  of  trees,  in  commemoration  of  their  fathers  having 
had  no  other  habitation  during  their  forty  years  sojourning 
in  the  wilderness.  To  this  feast  some  of  the  kinsmen  of  the 
blessed  Jesus  desired  he  would  accompany  them,  and  there 
show  himself  openly  to  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews. 

They  did  not  themselves  believe  that  he  was  the  great 
Prophet  so  long  expected,  and  therefore  condemned  the 
method  he  pursued  in  his  public  ministry,  as  altogether 
absurd.  They  could  not  conceive  what  reasons  he  had  for 
epending  so  much  of  his  time  in  the  desert's,  and 'remote 


CHRIST.  197 

corners  of  the  kingdom,  while  he  pretended  to  so  public  a 
character  as  that  of  the  Eedeemer  of  Israel.  Jerusalem,  the 
seat  of  power,  was,  in  their  opinion,  much  the  properest 
place  for  him  to  deliver  his  doctrines  and  work  his  miracles 
in  the  most  public  manner  possible,  before  the  great  and 
learned  men  of  the  nation,  whose  decision  in  his  favor  would 
have  great  weight  in  increasing  the  number  of  his  disciples, 
and  inducing  the  whole  nation  to  own  him  for  the  Messiah. 

Our  Lord  well  knew  the  rancorous  prejudice  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Jerusalem ;  and  therefore  did  not  think  proper  to 
reside  among  them  any  longer  than  was  necessary.  They 
had  more  than  once  attempted  his  life,  and  therefore  very 
little  hopes  remained  that  they  would  believe  his  miracles  or 
embrace  his  doctrine ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  there  was  great 
reason  to  think  they  would  destroy  him,  if  possible,  before 
he  had  finished  the  work  for  which  he  assumed  the  veil  of 
human  nature,  and  resided  among  the  sons  of  men.  "  My 
time,"  said  the  blessed  Jesus  to  these  unbelieving  relations, 
"  is  not  yet  come ;  but  your  time  is  always  ready.  The  world 
can  not  hate  you ;  but  me  it  hateth,  because  I  testify  of  it, 
that  the  works  thereof  are  evil.  Go  ye  up  unto  this  feast; 
I  go  not  yet  up  unto  this  feast,  for  my  time  is  not  yet  full 
come."  As  if  he  had  said,  it  is  not  proper  for  me  to  go 
before  the  feast  begins ;  but  you  may  repair  to  the  capital 
whenever  you  please :  the  Jews  are  your  friends ;  you  have 
done  nothing  to  displease  them ;  but  the  purity  of  the  doc- 
trines I  have  preached  to  them,  and  the  freedom  with  which 
I  have  reproved  their  hypocrisy  and  other  enormous  crimes, 
have  provoked  their  malice  to  its  utmost  height ;  and  there- 
fore, as  the  time  of  my  sufferings  is  not  yet  come,  it  is  noL 
prudent  for  me  to  go  so  soon  to  Jerusalem. 

There  was  also  another  reason  why  our  blessed  Saviour 
refused  to  accompany  these  relations  to  the  feast  of  taber- 
nacles ;  the  roads  were  crowded  with  people,  and  these  gath- 
ering round  him,  and  accompanying  him  to  Jerusalem,  would 
doubtless  have  given  offense  to  his  enemies,  and  have  in  a 
great  measure  prevented  his  miracles  and  doctrines  from 
havinor  the  desired  effect.     He  therefore  chose  to  continue  in 


198  CHRIST. 

Galilee,  till  the  crowd  were  all  gone  up,  when  he  followed,  as 
it  were  in  secret,  neither  preaching  nor  working  miracles  by 
the  way,  so  that  no  crowd  attended  him  to  the  feast.  As 
Jesus  did  not  go  up  openly  to  Jerusalem,  so  neither  did  he, 
on  his  arrival,  repair  to  the  temple,  and  there  preach  publicly 
to  the  people. 

This  gave  occasion  to  several  disputes  among  the  Jews 
with  regard  to  his  true  character. 

Some  affirmed  that  he  was  a  true  prophet,  and  that  his 
absenting  himself  from  the  feast  could  be  owing  only  to  acci- 
dent; while  others  as  confidently  asserted  that  he  only 
deceived  the  people,  and  paid  no  regard  to  the  institutions 
they  had  received  from  heaven. 

But  about  the  middle  of  the  feast,  Jesus  appeared  openly 
in  the  temple,  and  taught  the  people,  delivering  his  doctrines 
with  such  strength  of  reason  and  elegance  of  expression, 
that  his  very  enemies  were  astonished,  knowing  that  he 
never  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  learned  education.  The 
Jews  marveled,  saying,  "  How  knoweth  this  man  letters, 
having  never  learned?" 

To  which  the  great  Eedeemer  of  mankind  replied,  My 
doctrine  was  not  produced  by  human  wisdom ;  the  sages  of 
the  world  were  not  my  instructors  ;  I  received  it  from  heaven ; 
it  is  the  doctrine  of  the  Almighty,  whose  messenger  I  am. 
"  My  doctrine  is  not  mine,  but  His  that  sent  me."  Nor  can 
he  who  is  desirous  of  practicing  the  doctrines  I  deliver,  if 
he  will  lay  aside  his  prejudices,  and  sincerely  desire  to  be 
taught  of  God,  be  at  a  loss  to  know  from  whence  my  doc- 
trines are  derived ;  because  he  will  easily  discern  whether 
they  are  conformable  to  the  will  of  man  or  of  God. 

It  is  no  difficulty  to  discover  an  impostor,  because  all  his 
precepts  will  tend  to  advance  his  own  interest  and  gratify 
his  pride.  Whereas,  all  the  doctrines  delivered  by  a  true 
prophet  have  no  other  end  but  the  glory  of  God,  however 
contrary  they  may  prove  to  himself. 

While  the  blessed  Jesus  was  thus  instructing  the  people  in 
the  temple,  the  water  from  Siloam  was  brought  in,  according 
to  the  appointment  of  the  prophets  Haggai  and  Zechariah, 


CHRIST.  199 

part  of  whicli  they  drank  with  loud  acclamations,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  mercy  showed  to  their  fathers,  who  were 
relieved  by  a  stream  which  miraculously  flowed  from  a  rock, 
and  refreshed  a  whole  nation,  then  ready  to  perish  with  thirst 
in  a  dreary  and  sandy  waste ;  and  the  other  part  they  poured 
out  as  a  drink-ofiering  to  the  Almighty,  accompanying  it 
with  their  prayers  for  the  former  or  latter  rain  to  fall  in  its 
season ;  the  whole  congregation  singing  the  following  pas- 
sage: "With  joy  shall  ye  draw  water  out  of  the  wells  of 
salvation." 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  to  deliver  moral 
instructions,  in  allusion  to  many  occurrences  that  happened  ; 
and  accordingly  he  took  this  opportunity  of  inviting,  in  the 
most  affectionate  manner,  all  who  were  desirous  of  knowl- 
edge or  happiness,  to  come  to  him  and  drink,  alluding  to 
the  ceremony  they  were  then  performing. 

And  to  encourage  all  such  as  were  desirous  of  believing 
in  him,  he  promised  them  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
he  represented  to  them  under  the  similitude  of  a  river,  whose 
refreshing  streams  were  constantly  flowing. 

During  this  discourse  to  the  people,  the  ofl&cers  from  the 
council  came  to  apprehend  him  ;  but  hearing  that  the  topic 
he  was  discussing  was  a  very  singular  one,  and  he  seemed 
to  deliver  his  discourse  with  remarkable  fervor,  their  curios- 
ity induced  them  to  listen  some  time  before  they  laid  hands 
on  him.  But  the  eloquent  manner  in  which  he  delivered  his 
subject,  appeased  their  rage ;  the  sweetness  of  his  pronuncia- 
tion, and  the  plainness  and  perspicuity  of  his  discourse,  elu 
cidated  the  beauties  of  truth,  and  caused  them  to  shine  before 
the  understanding  with  their  native  lustre. 

Accordingly,  his  very  enemies,  who  were  come  from  the 
council  on  purpose  to  apprehend  him,  were  astonished ;  the 
greatness  of  the  subject,  made  as  it  were  visible  by  the  divine 
speaker,  filled  their  understandings  ;  the  warmth  and  tender- 
ness with  which  he  delivered  himself  penetrated  their  hearts ; 
they  felt  new  and  uncommon  emotions,  and  being  over- 
whelmed with  the  greatness  of  their  admiration,  were  fixed 
in   silence    and   astonishment;    condemned   themselves   for 


200  CHRIST. 

having  undertaken  the  office,  and  soon  returned  to  the  rulers 
of  Israel  without  performing  it. 

If  our  Lord  had  pleaded  for  his  life  before  the  officers  of 
the  council,  who  were  sent  to  apprehend  him,  the  success  of 
his  eloquence,  even  in  that  case,  had  been  truly  wonderful ; 
but  in  the  case  before  us,  it  surely  was  superior  to  all  praise ; 
for  in  a  discourse  addressed  to  others,  and  even  on  a  spiritual 
subject,  it  disarmed  a  band  of  inveterate  enemies,  and  made 
them  as  friends. 

The  officers  returning  to  the  council,  were  asked  why  they 
had  not  brought  Jesus  of  Nazareth ;  to  whom  the  officers 
answered,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  This  reply 
enraged  the  council,  who  reviled  them  for  2:)resumiug  to 
entertain  a  favorable  opinion  of  one  whom  they  had  pro- 
nounced an  impostor.  It  is  strange,  said  they,  that  you,  who 
are  not  ignorant  of  our  sentiments  concerning  this  person, 
should  entertain  a  favorable  idea  of  him. 

Have  any  persons  of  rank,  or  celebrated  for  their  knowl- 
edge of  the  laws,  believed  on  him  ? 

Are  not  his  followers  the  lower  order  of  the  people,  who 
are  totally  ignorant  of  all  the  prophecies  concerning  the 
Messiah  ? 

The  officers  made  no  answer  to  these  railing  accusations 
of  their  masters ;  but  Nicodemus,  a  member  of  the  council, 
arraigned  their  conduct  in  a  very  poignant  manner.  "Does 
our  law,"  said  he,  "  condemn  any  man  before  he  has  been 
heard  ?"  They  had  before  condemned  their  officers  for  being 
ignorant  of  the  law,  when  it  appeared  they  were  themselves 
far  more  ignorant,  in  pretending  to  condemn  a  person  before 
they  had  proved  him  guilty.  They  were  acting  directly 
contrary  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  law  of  equity, 
at  the  time  they  boasted  of  their  profound  knowledge  of  its 
precepts. 

Incensed  at  this  reprimand  of  Nicodemus,  they  asked  him, 
with  an  air  of  disdain  and  surprise,  if  he  was  also  one  of 
those  mean  persons  who  had  joined  together  to  support  the 
pretenses  of  a  Galilean ;  though  the  Scripture  had  plainly 
.said  that  Bethlehem  was  the  place  of  the  Messiah's  nativity ; 


CHRIST.  201 

adding,  that  if  he  refused  to  listen  to  them,  he  should  soon 
be  convinced  that  the  great  Prophet  mentioned  by  Moses 
will  not  be  born  in  Galilee.  "Art  thou  also  of  Galilee  ?" 
said  they.  "  Search,  and  look ;  for  out  of  Galilee  ariseth  no 
prophet." 

Having  made  this  reply  to  Nicodemus,  the  council  broke 
up,  and  Jesus,  who  well  knew  their  malicious  intentions, 
retired  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  where  he  spent  the  night 
with  his  disciples.  Early  the  following  morning,  however, 
he  returned  to  the  temple,  and  again  taught  the  people; 
asserting  the  divinity  of  his  mission,  and  declaring  the  happy 
efi'ects  of  faith,  and  obedience  to  the  gospel. 

The  great  Preacher  of  Israel  having  defeated  the  cruel 
designs  of  the  obstinate  Jews,  in  passing  on  his  way,  saw  a 
man  who  had  been  blind  from  his  birth.  The  sight  of  so 
affecting  an  object  could  not  fail  to  elicit  the  Saviour's  com- 
passion. Nor  could  the  affronts  and  indignities  he  had  just 
received  from  the  Jews,  hinder  him  from  "  working  the  works 
of  Him  that  sent  him,"  and  dispensing  blessings  on  that  rebel- 
lious and  ungrateful  nation. 

Accordingly,  he  beheld  this  poor  blind  man,  not  with  a 
transient  view,  but  fixed  on  him  the  eyes  of  pity,  and  pre- 
sented him  with  the  riches  of  his  adorable  love. 

The  disciples  observing  the  affectionate  regard  of  their 
Master  to  this  object  of  compassion,  and  probably  imagining 
that  he  was  going  to  extend  his  usual  mercy  to  this  unfortu- 
nate object,  asked  their  Master  whether  his  blindness  was 
occasioned  by  his  own  sin,  or  the  sin  of  his  parents.  Their 
Master  kindly  answered,  that  neither  his  own  nor  the  sins  of 
his  parents  were  the  immediate  cause  of  this  peculiar  punish- 
ment; but  that  he  was  born  blind,  "that  the  works  of  God 
should  be  made  manifest  in  him ;"  particularly  his  sover- 
eignty in  bringing  him  blind  into  the  world,  his  power  of 
conferring  the  faculty  of  sight  upon  him,  and  his  goodness 
in  bearing  witness  to  the  doctrine  by  which  men  are  to  be 
saved.  We  may  learn  by  this  pertinent  reply  of  the  Saviour 
of  the  world,  that  a  curious  inquiry  into  the  afflictions  of 
other  men  may  be  safely  avoided ;  and  that  we  ought  to 


202  CHRIST. 

suppose  every  calamity  subservient  to  the  glory  of  Omnipo 
tence,  never  imputing  to  their  personal  sins  whatever  miseries 
we  behold  in  others,  lest,  like  the  disciples  in  the  present 
case,  we  assign  that  to  sin,  which  owes  its  origin  to  the  glory 
gf  our  Maker. 

Having  assigned  the  cause  cf  this  person's  blindness, — 
namely,  *'  that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in 
him," — Jesus  added,  "  I  must  work  the  works  of  Him  that 
sent  me,  while  it  is  day ;  the  night  cometh,  when  no  man 
can  work," — intimating  to  his  disciples  and  all  the  sons  of 
men,  his  unwearied  labor  in  the  work  of  his  Almighty 
Father.  In  this  he  was  occupied  day  and  night,  during  the 
time  of  his  sojourning  in  the  flesh.  To  this  alone  he  directed 
all  his  thoughts  and  all  his  intentions ;  this  he  esteemed  even 
as  his  meat  and  drink ;  and  for  this  he  suffered  the  neglect 
of  his  ordinary  food,  that  he  might  finish  the  blessed,  the 
beneficent  work  of  human  salvation, — a  work,  to  accomplish 
which,  he  left  the  courts  of  heaven,  and,  during  the  execution 
of  it,  went  about  doing  good.  It  was  now  the  Sabbath  day, 
and  the  blessed  Jesus  was  going  to  perform  a  miracle,  in 
which  there  was  to  be  a  small  degree  of  servile  work ;  and 
therefore  he  told  his  disciples  that  they  need  not  be  surprised 
to  see  him  work  miracles  of  that  kind  on  the  Sabbath  day  ; 
for  though  they  should  imagine  that  he  might  defer  them  till 
the  day  of  rest  was  over,  his  time  on  earth  was  so  short,  that 
it  was  necessary  for  him  to  embrace  every  opportunity  that 
offered.  Perhaps  he  chose  to  perform  this  work  on  the  Sab- 
bath, because  he  knew  the  Pharisees  would,  for  that  reason, 
inquire  into  it  with  the  utmost  attention,  and  consequently 
render  it  more  generally  known.  But,  however  this  be,  our 
blessed  Saviour,  who  was  now  going  to  confer  sight  upon  one 
that  was  born  blind,  took  occasion  from  thence  to  speak  of 
himself  as  one  appointed  to  give  light  also  to  the  minds  of 
men  involved  in  darkness. 

It  appears  from  hence  that  our  Saviour's  miracles  were 
designed  not  only  as  proofs  of  his  mission,  but  also  as  speci 
mens  of  the  power  he  possessed  as  the  Messiah. 

For  example,  by  feeding  the  multitude  with  the  meat  that 


CHRIST.  203 

perished,  lie  signified  that  he  was  to  come  to  quicken  and 
nourish  mankind  with  the  bread  of  life,  that  sovereign  cor- 
dial and  salutary  nutriment  of  the  soul.  His  giving  sight  to 
the  blind  was  a  lively  emblem  of  the  efficacy  of  his  doctrine 
to  illuminate  the  blinded  understandings  of  men.  His  heal- 
ing their  bodies  represented  his  power  to  heal  their  souls,  and 
was  a  specimen  of  his  authority  to  forgive  sins,  as  it  was  a 
real,  though  a  partial,  removal  of  its  punishment.  His 
casting  out  devils  was  an  earnest  of  his  final  victory  over 
Satan  and  all  his  powers.  His  raising  particular  persons 
from  the  dead  was  the  beginning  of  his  triumph  over  death, 
and  a  demonstration  of  his  ability  to  accomplish  a  general 
resurrection ;  and,  in  a  word,  his  curing  all  promiscuously 
who  applied  to  him,  showed  that  he  was  not  come  to  con- 
demn the  world,  but  to  save  even  the  chief  of  sinners. 
Accordingly,  at,  or  soon  after  performing  these  miracles, 
when  the  memory  of  them  was  fresh  in  the  minds  of  his 
hearers,  we  often  find  him  turning  his  discourse  to  the  spirit- 
ual things  they  represented. 

Having  declared  the  salutary  design  of  his  coming  into 
the  world,  "  he  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the 
spittle,  and  he  anointed  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man  with  the 
clay,  and  said  unto  him,  Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam, 
(which  is,  by  interpretation.  Sent.)  He  went  his  way,  there- 
fore, and  washed,  and  came  seeing." 

From  former  examples,  it  is  evident  that  our  Saviour 
could  as  easily  have  performed  this  miracle  without  the 
assistance  of  any  external  means.  Indeed,  those  the  great 
Eedeemer  made  use  of  on  this ,  occasion  were  so  far  from 
being  likely  to  effect  a  cure,  that  they  seemed  properly 
adapted  to  produce  a  quite  contrary  effect. 

We  must  therefore  conclude  that  they  were  intended  to 
ciirect  our  attention  to  higher  mysteries,  and  show  us,  as  in  a 
glass,  that  it  is  no  other  than  the  same  divine  person  who  at 
first  created  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  gave  sight 
to  his  eyes,  that  now  restores  and  regenerates  lapsed  mankind, 
and  opens  the  eyes  closed  with  the  black  cement  of  sin. 

This  miraculous  operation  could  not  fail  of  producing  a 


204  CHRIST. 

general  curiosity  and  surprise,  and  induced  those  wlio  liad 
seen  this  blind  man  in  his  dark  and  deplorable  condition,  to 
be  very  particular  in  their  inquiries  into  the  means  of  so  sin- 
gular a  miracle.  Unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart  led  some 
of  them  even  to  doubt  of  the  plainest  fact — a  fact  the  most 
evident  and  indisputable,  and  plainly  the  work  of  the  divin- 
ity ;  and  others  to  persecute  at  once  both  the  object  ojid  the 
author  of  it ! 

The  man,  transported  with  gratitude  and  joy,  perceiving 
his  neighbors  doubted  the  identity  of  his  person,  proclaimed 
himself  to  be  the  very  same  whom  they  lately  saw  begging 
in  total  darkness.  His  bold  acknowledgment  of  Jesus,  and 
his  divine  power,  excited  the  envy  and  malice  of  the  proud 
Pharisees,  who,  finding  all  attempts  either  to  discredit  or  dis- 
prove the  fact,  useless,  had  recourse  to  their  usual  method  of 
calumniating  the  author  of  it;  and  finally  "cast  him  out," — 
that  is,  passed  on  him  the  sentence  of  excommunication, 
which  was  the  highest  punishment  they  had  power  to  inflict. 

The  feast  of  dedication  now  drew  near.  This  solemnity 
was  not  appointed  by  Moses,  but  by  that  heroic  reformer, 
Judas  Maccabeus,  in  commemoration  of  his  having  cleansed 
the  temple,  and  restored  its  worship,  after  both  had  been 
polluted  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes.  Although  this  feast  was 
merely  of  human  institution,  Jesus  determined  to  be  present 
at  it,  even  though  he  knew  further  attempts  would  be  made 
against  his  life.  His  public  ministry  was  indeed  now  draw- 
ing near  its  period ;  and  therefore  the  blessed  Jesus  would 
not  omit  any  opportunity  of  preaching  to  the  lost  sheep  of 
the  house  of  Israel,  and  of  doing  good  to  the  children  of  men. 
Nor  did  he  now,  as  he  had  formerly  done,  travel  privately 
to  the  capital,  but  openly  declared  his  intention  of  going  to 
Jerusalem,  and  set  forward  on  his  journey  with  great  courage 
and  resolution. 

Jesus,  in  the  course  of  his  wandering,  met  with  one  who 
had  formerly  been  his  disciple,  and  ordered  him  to  disengage 
himself  from  all  worldly  employments,  and  to  follow  him ; 
but  he  was  desirous  of  excusing  himself  for  the  present, 
under  the  pretense  that  he  was  bound  by  the  ties  of  gratitude 


CHRIST.  205 

to  continue  with,  his  aged  father  till  death,  and  he  had  laid 
his  remains  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  ancestors.  "  Lord,"  said 
he,  "  suffer  me  first  to  go  and  bury  my  father."  To  which 
Jesus  answered,  "Let  the  dead  bury  their  dead;  but  go  thou 
and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God."  Let  those  that  are  im- 
mersed in  worldly  affairs,  follow  the  affairs  of  the  world ; 
but  those  who  have  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  do 
every  thing  in  their  power  to  spread  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation in  every  part  of  the  world. 

Another  person  offered  to  follow  him,  provided  he  would 
give  him  the  liberty  to  return  to  his  house,  and  take  leave  of 
his  family  ;  but  Jesus  told  him  that  he  should  not  suffer  any 
domestic  affliirs  to  interfere  with  the  care  of  his  salvation ; 
that  the  calls  of  religion  were  too  pressing  to  admit  of  the 
least  delay  or  excuse  whatever,  and  that  all  who  set  them- 
selves to  seek  the  welfare  of  their  souls,  should  pursue  the 
work  assiduously,  without  looking  carelessly  around  them, 
as  if  they  were  regardless  of  the  work  they  had  undertaken 
to  perform. 

As  our  blessed  Saviour's  ministry  was  from  this  time  till 
its  final  period  confined  to  Judea  and  the  countries  beyond 
Jordan,  it  was  necessary  that  some  harbingers  should  be  sent 
into  every  town  and  village  he  was  to  visit,  to  prepare  his 
way.  According^,  he  called  his  seventy  disciples  unto  him, 
and,  after  instructing  them  in  the  duties  of  their  mission,  and 
the  particulars  to  observe  in  their  journey,  he  sent  them  into 
different  parts  of  the  country,  to  those  particular  places 
whither  he  himself  intended  to  follow  them,  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  inhabitants.  Our  Lord,  according  to  his  own 
declaration,  despatched  these  disciples  on  the  same  important 
errand  as  he  had  done  the  twelve  before.  As  some  consola- 
tion, he  told  them,  "He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me;  and 
he  that  despiseth  you,  despiseth  me ;  and  he  that  despiseth 
me,  despiseth  him  that  sent  me."  Such  a  token  of  heavenly 
regard  could  not  fail  of  comforting  the  seventy,  and  allevia- 
ting their  minds,  when  thinking  of  the  ill-usage  they  ex- 
pected to  meet  with  during  the  course  of  their  mission.  They 
well  knew  that  the  preaching  of  Christ  himself  had  been 


206  CHRIST. 

often  despised,  and  often  unsuccessful,  witli  respect  to  many 
of  his  hearers ;  and  therefore  they  had  no  very  great  reason 
to  expect  that  they  should  find  a  more  welcome  reception 
than  their  Master. 

The  feast  of  the  dedication  being  near,  Jesus  turned  his 
course  hither,  and  in  the  evening  came  to  the  house  of  Mar- 
tha and  Mary,  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  at  Bethany.  Martha 
was  desirous  of  expressing  her  regard  for  the  divine  guest, 
by  providing  for  him  and  his  disciples  the  best  entertainment 
in  her  power.  But  her  sister,  who  was  of  a  more  contem 
plative  disposition,  sat  quietly  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  listening 
with  the  utmost  attention  to  his  doctrine.  For  the  great 
Eedeemer  of  mankind  never  omitted  any  opportunity  of 
declaring  the  gracious  offers  of  the  Almighty,  and  his  un- 
speakable love  for  the  children  of  men.  Martha  being 
greatly  fatigued  with  the  burden  of  the  service,  complained 
to  Jesus  of  the  little  care  Mary  took  to  assist  her. 

But  Martha's  officiousness  incurred  our  Lord's  reproof,  who 
commended  Mary  for  her  attentive  application  to  his  doctrine, 
by  saying,  "Martha,  Martha,  thou  art  careful  and  troubled 
about  many  things :  but  one  thing  is  needful ;  and  Mary  hath 
chosen  that  good  part,  which  shall  not  be  taken  away  from 
her." 

At  the  feast  of  dedication,  Jesus  was  informed  that  the 
beggar  he  had  restored  to  sight  at  the  feast  of  the  taberna- 
lIcs,  was  by  the  council  cast  out  of  the  synagogue.  This 
information  excited  the  pity  of  the  Son  of  Grod,  and  he 
resolved  to  make  amends  to  him  for  the  injury  he  had  suf- 
fered. 

It  was  not  long  before  he  met  the  suffering  person,  and 
said  to  him,  "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God  ?  He 
answered  and  said.  Who  is  he.  Lord,  that  I  might  believe  on 
him  ?  And  Jesus  said  unto  him.  Thou  hast  both  seen  hira, 
and  it  is  he  that  talketh  with  thee.  And  he  said.  Lord,  I 
believe.     And  he  worshiped  him." 

It  has  before  been  hinted,  that  the  beggar  was  thoroughly 
convinced  that  the  person  who  opened  his  eyes  was  a  messen- 
ger from  heaven ;  it  is  therefore  no  wonder  that  as  soon  as 


CHRIST.  207 

he  knew  Jesus  was  tlie  person  who  had  performed  so  great  a 
work,  he  readily  believed  him  to  be  the  Son  of  God. 

Our  Saviour  on  this,  as  on  all  occasions,  taught  the  people 
the  superiority  of  his  doctrines,  and  the  fullness  and  freeness 
of  his  salvation. 

The  feast  being  over,  Jesus  departed  from  Jerusalem,  and 
returned  into  the  parts  of  Perea,  beyond  Jordan. 

Here  his  ministry  was  attended  with  gTeat  success ;  for  the 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  remembering  what  had  been  told 
them  by  John  the  Baptist  concerning  Jesus,  and  being  sen- 
sible that  the  doctrine  and  miracles  of  our  blessed  Saviour 
were  fully  equal  to  what  the  Baptist  had  foretold,  firmly 
believed  him  to  be  the  Messiah. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

RELIEVES  AN  APFLICTED  WOMAN,  WHO  HAD  BEEN  DISEASED  EIGHTEEN 

YEARS;   APPLIED  TO  IN  BEHALF  OF  LAZARES;    RESTORES  HIM  TO 

LIFE;    EXCITEMENT  OF  THE  PEOPLE;    COUNCIL  CALLED 

TO  RESOLVE  TO  PUT  HIM  TO  DEATH. 

;^|   TILL  surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  people,  Jesus 

continued  his  teachings,  charging  his  disciples  to 

beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees — hypocrisy — 

'^^M  because  all  their  actions  would  be  brought  to  light, 

either  in  this  world,  or  that  which  is  to  come ;  and 

therefore  exhorted  them  to  be  very  careful  never  to  do  any 

thing  which  could  not  bear  the  light,  but  to  let  the  whole  of 

their  behavior  be  honest,  just,  and  good. 

To  animate  his  followers  to  perseverance,  he  admonished 
them  to  look  forward  unto  the  general  judgment,  when  he 
would  acknowledge  them  as  his  servants,  provided  they  ac- 
knowledged him  in  this  world  as  their  Master,  and  cheerfully 
and  constantly  obeyed  his  commands;  but  if  they  were 
ashamed  of  him  and  his  doctrines  before  the  sons  of  men,  he 
would  disown  them  before  the  celestial  host. 

He  also  cautioned  his  disciples  not  to  be  perplexed  with 


208  CHE  I  ST. 

regard  to  an  answer,  when  they  should  be  brought  before  the 
rulers  of  the  people,  because  thej  should  be  inspired  by  the 
Spirit  of  God. 

While  delivering  these  exhortations  to  his  disciples,  a  cer- 
tain person  among  the  multitude  begged  him  that  he  would 
interpose  his  authority  with  his  brother,  in  order  to  oblige 
him  to  divide  their  paternal  inheritance  between  them ;  but 
as  this  decision  properly  belonged  to  the  magistrates,  our 
blessed  Saviour,  who  came  into  the  world  to  redeem  the  souls 
of  mankind,  and  to  purchase  for  them  an  eternal,  not  a  tem- 
poral inheritance,  declined  the  ofS.ce. 

He, .  however,  embraced  the  opportunity  of  giving  his 
hearers  the  most  solemn  caution  against  covetousness ;  de- 
claring that  neither  the  length  nor  the  happiness  of  human 
life  had  any  dependence  on  the  largeness  of  possessions. 

To  excite  their  comparative  negligence  of  the  things  of 
this  life,  he  placed  before  them  in  the  strongest  light  an 
example  of  the  bewitching  influence  of  wealth,  in  the  par- 
able of  the  rich  man  who  was  cut  off  in  the  midst  of  his 
projects,  and  became  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  folly  of 
amassing  the  goods  of  this  life,  without  having  any  regard 
to  the  commands  of  the  Almighty.  This  wretched  man,  for- 
getting his  own  mortality,  made  preparations  for  a  long  and 
luxurious  life,  pleasing  himself  with  the  thoughts  of  posses- 
sing an  inexhaustible  fund  of  sensual  enjoyments.  But, 
alas !  while  he  was  providing  repositories  for  his  riches,  the 
inexorable  king  of  terrors  seized  him,  and  that  very  night 
hurried  him  before  the  awful  tribunal  of  Omnipotence. 

Having  spoken  this  parable,  our  Lord  proceeded  to  caution 
his  disciples  against  anxious  cares  for  the  things  of  this 
Avorld  ;  from  a  consideration  that  the  care  of  God's  providence 
extends  to  every  part  of  creation. 

The  fowls  of  heaven  are  fed  by  his  bounty,  and  the  lilies 
that  adorn  the  valleys  are  supplied  with  rain  from  the  clouds 
of  heaven ;  if,  therefore,  said  the  Saviour,  Omnipotence  so 
carefully  provides  for  the  inferior  parts  of  creation,  the  chil- 
dren of  men  have  surely  reason  to  rely  on  his  bounty,  and 
depend  for  subsistence  on  his  merciful  hand. 


CHRIST. 


209 


He  added,  that  as  God  had  called  them  to  everlasting  hap- 
piness in  a  future  life,  he  would  surely  provide  for  them  all 
the  necessities  of  the  present. 

Having  thus  recommended  to  them  the  disengagement  of 
their  affections  from  the  things  of  this  world,  he  exhorted 
them  to  labor  after  improvement  in  grace  ;  enforcing  constant 
watchfulness  and  habitual  preparation,  by  reminding  them 
of  the  uncertainty  of  his  coming,  telling  his  disciples  that,  as 
every  master  of  a  family,  if  he  knew  the  coming  of  the  thief, 
would  make  some  preparation  against  a  surprise,  so  it  would 
be  highly  requisite  for  them  to  make  some  preparation  for 
the  approach  of  their  Master,  and  be  always  ready  to  receive 
him,  as  the  time  of  his  coming  was  uncertain. 

During  the  stay  of  Jesus  in  the  country  of  Perea,  he  ob- 
served, while  he  was  preaching  in  one  of  the  synagogues  on 
the  Sabbath  day,  a  woman  who,  during  the  space  of  eighteen 
years,  had  been  nnable  to  stand  upright. 

A  daughter  of  Abraham  laboring  under  so  terrible  a  dis- 
order, could  not  fail  of  finding  sympathy  in  the  heart  of  the 
compassionate  Saviour.  He  beheld  this  affecting  object;  he 
pitied  her  deplorable  condition ;  he  removed  her  complaint. 
She  who  came  into  the  synagogue  bowed  down  with  an 
infirmity,  was,  by  the  all-powerful  word  of  the  Son  of  God, 
restored  to  her  natural  health,  and  returned  to  her  house, 
upright  and  full  of  vigor.  Such  a  display  of  divine  power 
and  goodness,  instead  of  exciting  the  gratitude,  so  highly 
offended  the  master  of  the  synagogue,  that  he  openl}^  testified 
his  displeasure,  and  reproved  the  people  as  Sabbath-breakers, 
because  they  came  on  that  day  to  be  healed. 

But  our  blessed  Saviour  soon  silenced  this  hypocritical 
Pharisee,  by  showing  that  he  had  not  deviated  from  their 
own  avowed  practice.  They  made  no  scruple  of  loosing 
their  cattle,  and  leading  them  to  water  on  that  day,  because 
the  mercy  of  the  action  sufficiently  justified  them  for  per- 
forming it.  And  surely  this  daughter  of  Abraham,  that  had 
been  bound  by  an  incurable  distemper  during  the  tedious 
space  of  eighteen  years,  was  abundantly  justified  ;  nor  could 
this  bigoted  ruler  have  thought  otherwise,  had  not  his  reason 

14 


210 


CHKIST. 


been  blinded  by  his  superstition.  Our  Lord  having  reproved 
the  superstition  of  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue,  and  observing 
the  acclamations  of  the  people,  then  proceeded  to  demonstrate 
the  reason  and  truth  which  so  effectually  supported  his  king- 
dom. He  repeated  the  parables  of  the  grain  of  mustard  seed 
and  of  the  leaven,  to  show  the  efficacious  operations  of  the 
gospel  upon  the  minds  of  the  children  of  men,  and  its  rapid 
progress  through  the  world,  notwithstanding  all  the  opposi- 
tion of  its  most  inveterate  enemies. 

The  great  Eedeenier  having  now  planted  the  seeds  of  the 
gospel  in  the  country  of  Perea,  crossed  the  Jordan,  and  trav- 
eled by  slow  journeys  toward  Jerusalem,  preaching  the  gospel 
in  every  village,  and  declaring  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  those  countries. 

While  he  was  thus  laboring  for  the  salvation  of  mankind, 
one  of  the  persons  who  accompanied  him,  asked  him,  "  Lord, 
are  they  few  that  be  saved?"  In  all  probability,  the  person 
who  proposed  this  question  had  heard  the  Son  of  God  describe 
the  success  of  the  gospel,  by  the  parables  of  the  mustard-seed 
and  of  the  leaven :  and  his  notions  of  the  kingdom  of  the 
Messiah  being  those  that  were  then  entertained  by  the  Jews 
in  general,  he  meant  a  temporal  salvation. 

But  Jesus,  to  convince  him  that  he  never  intended  to  erect 
a  temporal  kingdom,  answered  the  question  in  a  spiritual 
manner,  and  told  him  that  a  small  number  only  of  the  Jews 
would  be  saved !  exhorting  them  to  embrace  the  offers  of 
mercy  before  it  was  too  late  ;  for  that  many,  after  the  period 
of  their  trial  was  concluded,  and  their  state  finally  and  irre- 
versibly determined,  should  earnestly  desire  these  benevolent 
offers,  but  should  be  denied  their  request, 

"  Strive,"  said  he,  "  to  enter  in  at  the  straight  gate ;  for 
many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and  shall  not  be 
able." 

It  was  in  this  connection  -he  delivered  the  parable  of  the 
prodigal  son,  which  beautifully  represents  the  work  of  grace 
on  the  heart  of  mq,n,  from  the  first  conviction  of  sin  to  the 
absolute  confession  of  it ;  showing,  at  the  same  time,  there 
can  be  no  true  confession  without  a  thorough  consciousness 


CHRIST.  211 

of  guilt,  a  sense  of  our  lost  state,  and  an  entire  reliance  ou 
the  mercy  of  God,  through  Christ  our  Lord. 

Soon  after  the  Saviour  had  finished  these  discourses,  one 
of  his  friends,  named  Lazarus,  fell  sick  at  Bethany,  a  village 
about  two  miles  from  the  countries  beyond  Jordan,  where 
Jesus  was  now  preaching  the  gospel. 

The  sisters  of  Lazarus,  finding  his  sickness  was  of  a  dan- 
gerous kind,  thought  proper  to  send  an  account  of  it  to 
Jesus ;  being  firmly  persuaded  that  he  who  had  cured  so 
many  strangers,  would  readily  come  and  give  health  to  one 
whom  he  loved  in  so  tender  a  manner.  "  Lord,"  said  they, 
"  behold,  he  whom  thou  lovest  is  sick ;"  they  did  not  add, 
come  down  and  heal  him ;  make  haste,  and  save  him  from 
the  grave ;  it  was  sufficient  for  them  to  relate  their  necessities 
to  their  Lord,  who  was  both  able  and  willing  to  help  them  in 
•their  distress.  "When  Jesus  heard  that,  he  said.  This  sick- 
ness is  not  unto  death."  This  declaration  of  the  benevolent 
Jesus,  being  carried  to  the  sisters  of  Lazarus,  must  have 
strangely  surprised  them,  and  exercised  both  their  and  his 
disciples'  faith  ;  since  it  is  probable  that  before  the  messenger 
arrived  at  Bethany,  Lazarus  had  expired.  Soon  after,  Jesus 
positively  assured  his  disciples  that  "Lazarus  was  dead." 

The  evangelist,  in  the  beginning  of  this  account,  tells  us 
that  Jesus  loved  Martha,  and  her  sister,  and  Lazarus;  and 
also  that  after  he  had  received  the  message,  he  remained  two 
days  in  the  same  place  where  he  was.  His  design  in  this 
might  be  to  intimate  that  his  lingering  so  long  after  the  mes- 
sage came,  did  not  proceed  from  a  want  of  concern  for  his 
friends,  but  happened  according  to  the  counsels  of  his  own 
wisdom.  For  the  length  of  time  which  Lazarus  lay  in  the 
grave,  put  his  death  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt,  removed 
every  suspicion  of  fraud,  and  consequently  afforded  Jesus  a 
fit  opportunity  of  displaying  the  love  he  bore  to  Lazarus,  as 
well  as  his  own  divine  power,  in  his  undoubted  resurrection 
from  the  dead. 

His  sisters,  indeed,  were  by  this  means  kept  awhile  in 
painful  suspense,  on  account  of  their  brother's  life,  and  at 
last,  pierced  by  the  sorrows  of  seeing  him  die  ;  yet  they  must 


212  CHRIST. 

surely  think  themselves  abundantly  recompensed,  by  tho 
evidence  accruing  to  the  gospel  from  his  astonishing  miracle, 
as  well  as  by  the  inexpressible  surprise  of  joy  they  felt  when 
they  again  received  their  brother  from  the  dead. 

Two  days  being  thus  expired,  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples, 
"  Let  us  go  into  Judea  again."  His  disciples  were  astonished 
at  this  projDOsal,  and  the  recollection  of  his  late  danger  in 
that  country  alarmed  them  :  "  Master,"  said  they,  "  the  Jews 
of  late  sought  to  stone  thee ;  and  goest  thou  thither  again  ?" 
"Jesus  answered.  Are  there  not  twelve  hours  in  the  day? 
If  any  man  walk  in  the  day,  he  stumbleth  not,  because  he 
seeth  the  light  of  this  world.  But  if  a  man  walk  in  the 
night,  he  stumbleth,  because  there  is  no  light  in  him."  By 
this  he  intended  to  inform  his  disciples  that  those  who  lived 
b}^  faith,  and  acted  under  the  infallible  influences  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  could  not  stumble ;  whereas,  those  who  followed  the 
directions  of  unenlightened  reason,  were  liable  to  perpetual 
error. 

Jesus  having  removed  their  groundless  apprehensions,  and 
strengthened  their  faith,  that  he  might  clearly  explain  to 
them  the  cause  of  his  going  into  Judea  again,  told  them, 
"  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth ;  but  I  go  that  I  may  awake 
him  out  of  sleep."  The  disciples,  understanding  his  discourse 
in  a  literal  manner,  replied,  "  Lord,  if  he  sleep,  he  shall  do 
well ;"  his  distemper  is  abated,  and  he  in  all  probability  is 
recovering.  It  would  be  therefore  highly  unreasonable  in  us 
to  take  two  days'  journey  only  to  awaken  him  out  of  sleep. 

Thus  they  discovered  their  fears,  and  hinted  to  their  Mas- 
ter that  it  would  be  safer  to  continue  where  they  were  than 
to  take  a  hazardous  journey  into  Judea. 

The}?"  were,  however,  mistaken  ;  for  the  evangelist  informs 
us  that  he  "  spake  of  his  death ;"  but  they  thought  that  he 
had  spoken  of  taking  of  rest  in  sleep.  Jesus,  therefore,  to 
remove  any  doubt,  said  plainly  to  them,  "  Lazarus  is  dead ; 
and  I  am  glad  for  your  sakes  I  was  not  there,  to  the  intent 
that  ye  might  not  believe."  I  am  glad  for  your  sakes  I  was 
not  in  Judea  before  he  died;  for  had  I  been  there,  and 
restored  him  to  his  health,  your  faith  in  me,  as  the  Messiah, 


CHEIST.  213 

must  have  wanted  the  gi'eat  confirmation  it  shall  now  receive 
hy  your  beholding  me  raise  him  from  the  dead. 

Having  thus  given  his  disciples  a  proof  of  his  divine 
knowledge,  and  of  the  designs  of  Providence  in  the  death  of 
Lazarus,  our  blessed  Saviour  added,  "  Nevertheless,  let  us  go 
unto  him,"  Thus  Jesus,  who  could  have  raised  Lazarus 
without  opening  his  lips,  or  rising  from  his  seat,  leaves  his 
place  of  retirement  beyond  Jordan,  and  takes  a  journey  into 
Judea,  where  the  Jews  lately  attempted  to  kill  him  ;  because 
his  being  present  in  person,  and  raising  Lazarus  again  to  life, 
before  so  many  witnesses  in  Bethany,  where  he  died,  and 
was  so  well  known,  would  be  the  means  of  bringing  the  men 
of  that  place,  as  well  as  others,  who  should  hear  of  it,  even 
in  future  ages,  to  receive  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection  to 
eternal  life ;  an  admirable  proof,  and  as  an  emblem  of  which, 
he  gave  them  this  great  miracle. 

The  journey  to  Judea  being  thus  resolved  on,  Jesus  de- 
parted with  his  disciples,  and  in  his  way  to  Bethany,  passed 
through  Samaria  and  Galilee,  "And  as  he  entered  into  a 
certain  village,  there  met  him  ten  men  that  were  lepers, 
which  stood  afar  off":  and  they  lifted  up  their  voices,  and 
said,  Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy  on  us !  And  when  he  saw 
them,  he  said  unto  them,  Go,  show  yourselves  unto  the 
priests.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  as  they  went,  they  were 
cleansed."  Among  these  miserable  objects,  one  of  them  was 
a  native  of  the  country,  who,  perceiving  that  his  cure  was 
completed,  came  back,  praising  God  for  the  great  mercy  he 
had  received;  he  had  before  kept  at  a  distance  from  the 
Saviour,  but  being  now  sensible  that  he  was  entirely  clean, 
approached  his  benefactor,  that  all  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  beholding  the  miracle,  and  fell  on  his  face  at  his  feet, 
thanking  him  in  the  most  humble  manner  for  his  condescen- 
sion in  healing  him  of  so  terrible  a  disease,  Jesus,  in  order 
to  intimate  that  those  who  were  enlightened  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth,  ought,  at  least,  to  have  shown  as  great  a 
sense  of  piety  and  gratitude  as  this  Samaritan,  asked,  "Were 
there  not  ten  cleansed  ?  where  are  the  nine  ?  There  are  not 
found  that  returned  to  give  glory  to  God,  save  this  stranger." 


214  CHRIST. 

Surely  the  mission  of  Jesus  was  emphatically  one  of 
mercy.  Jesus  and  his  disciples  now  continued  their  journey 
toward  Bethany,  where  he  was  informed  by  some  of  the 
inhabitants  of  that  village,  that  Lazarus  was  not  only  dead, 
as  he  had  foretold,  but  had  now  lain  in  the  grave  four  days. 

The  afflicted  sisters  were  overwhelmed  with  sorrow,  so  that 
many  of  the  Jews  from  Jerusalem  came  to  comfort  them 
concerning  their  brother.  It  seems  the  news  of  our  Lord's 
coming  had  reached  Bethany,  before  he  arrived  at  that  vil- 
lage ;  for  Martha,  the  sister  of  Lazarus,  being  informed  of 
his  approach,  went  out  and  met  him ;  but  Mary,  who  was  of 
a  more  melancholy  and  contemplative  disposition,  sat  still  in 
the  house.  No  sooner  was  she  come  into  the  presence  of 
Jesus,  than  in  an  excess  of  grief,  she  poured  forth  her  com- 
plaints: "Lord,"  said  she,  "if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my 
brother  had  not  died." 

Martha,  doubtless,  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  our  Sav- 
iour's power ;  she  believed  that  death  did  not  dare  to  approach 
his  presence,  and,  consequently,  if  Jesus  had  arrived  at  Beth- 
any before  her  brother's  dissolution,  he  had  not  fallen  a  vic- 
tim to  the  king  of  terrors ;  but  she  imagined  that  it  was  not 
in  his  power  to  heal  the  sick  at  a  distance ;  though  at  the 
same  time,  she  seemed  to  have  some  dark  and  impeifect 
hopes  that  her  blessed  Lord  would  still  do  something  for  her. 
She  doubtless  knew  that  he  had  raised  the  daughtei  of 
Jairus,  and  the  widow's  son  at  ISTain,  from  the  dead ;  but 
seems  to  have  considered  her  brother's  resurrection  as  much 
more  difficult,  because  he  had  been  longer  dead.  But  Jesus, 
who  was  willing  to  encourage  this  imperfect  faith  of  Martha, 
answered,  "  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again."  As  these  words 
were  delivered  in  an  indefinite  sense  with  regard  to  time,  she 
understood  them  only  as  an  argument  of  consolation,  drawn 
from  the  general  resurrection  of  the  dead  ;  at  which  import- 
ant hour  she  believed  her  brother  would  rise  from  the  cham- 
bers of  the  dust.  Here  she  seems  to  have  terminated  all  her 
hopes,  not  thinking  that  the  Son  of  God  would  call  her 
brother  from  the  sleep  of  death. 

Jesus,  therefore,  to  instruct  her  in  this  great  truth,  replied, 


CHRIST.  215 

"  I  am  the  resurrection  and  tlie  life," — and  therefore  with 
the  same  ease  can  raise  the  dead  now,  as  at  the  last  day. 

Martha  now  seemed  to  entertain  some  confused  expecta- 
tions of  her  brother's  immediate  resurrection;  and  leaving 
Jesus  in  the  field,  ran  and  called  her  sister,  according  to  his 
order,  being  willing  that  both  Mary  and  her  companions 
should  be  witnesses  of  this  stupendous  miracle.  Mary  no 
sooner  heard  that  Jesus  was  come,  than  she  immediately  left 
her  Jewish  comforters,  who  only  increased  the  weight  of  her 
grief,  and  flew  to  her  Saviour ;  and  the  Jews,  who  suspected 
she  was  going  to  weep  over  the  grave  of  her  brother,  fol- 
lowed her  to  that  great  Prophet,  who  was  going  to  remove 
all  her  sorrows. 

Thus  the  Jews,  who  came  from  Jerusalem  to  comfort  the 
two  mournful  sisters,  were  brought  to  the  grave  of  Lazarus, 
and  made  witnesses  of  his  resurrection. 

As  soon  as  Mary  approached  the  blessed  Eedeemer,  she 
fell  prostrate  at  his  feet,  and  in  a  flood  of  tears  poured  out 
her  complaints,  in  the  same  words  her  sister  had  used.  No 
wonder  the  compassionate  Jesus  was  moved  at  so  affecting  a 
scene;  on  his  side  stood  Martha,  pouring  forth  a  flood  of 
tears;  at  his  feet  lay  the  affectionate  Mary,  weeping  and 
lamenting  her  dear,  departed  brother ;  while  the  Jews  who 
came  to  comfort  the  afflicted  sisters,  unable  to  confine  their 
grief,  joined  the  solemn  mourning,  and  mixed  their  friendly 
tears  in  witness  of  their  love  for  the  departed,  and  in  testi- 
mony to  the  justice  of  the  sisters'  grief  for  the  loss  of  so 
amiable  and  deserving  a  brother. 

Jesus  could  not  behold  the  affliction  of  the  two  sisters  and 
their  friends,  without  having  a  share  in  it  himself:  his  heart 
was  melted  at  the  mournful  scene ;  "  he  groaned  in  spirit, 
and  was  troubled."  To  remove  the  doubts  and  fears  of  these 
pious  women,  he  asked  them  where  they  had  buried  Lazarus  : 
not  that  he  was  ignorant  where  the  body  of  the  deceased  was 
laid ;  he  who  knew  that  he  was  dead  when  so  far  distant 
from  him,  and  could  raise  him  up  by  a  single  word,  must 
know  where  his  remains  were  deposited;  to  which  they 
answered,  "Lord,  come  and  see."     The  Son  of  God,  now,  to 


216  CHRIST. 

prove  tliat  he  was  not  only  God,  but  a  most  compassionate 
man,  and  to  show  .us  that  the  tender  affections  of  a  human 
heart,  when  kept  in  due  bounds, — that  friendly  sorrow,  when 
not  immoderate,  and  directed  to  improper  ends,  is  consistent 
with  the  highest  sanctity  of  the  soul — -joined  in  the  general 
mourning.  He  wept,  even  at  the  time  that  he  was  going  to 
give  the  most  ample  proof  of  his  divinity.  By  his  weeping, 
the  Jews  were  convinced  that  he  loved  Lazarus  exceedingly ; 
but  some  of  them  interpreted  this  circumstance  to  his  disad- 
vantage ;  for  according  to  their  mean  way  of  judging,  they 
fancied  that  he  had  suffered  him  to  fall  by  the  stroke  of 
death,  for  no  other  reason  in  the  world  but  for  want  of  power 
to  rescue  him. 

And  thinking  the  miracle  said  to  have  been  wrought  on 
the  blind  man,  at  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  at  least  as  difficult 
as  the  curing  an  acute  distemper,  they  called  the  former  in 
question,  because  the  latter  had  been  neglected:  "  Could  not 
this  man,"  said  they,  "  which  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind, 
have  caused  that  even  this  man  should  not  have  died  ?" 

Our  Lord,  regardless  of  their  question,  but  grieved  at  the 
hardness  of  their  hearts,  and  blindness  of  their  infidelity, 
groaned  again  within  himself,  as  he  walked  toward  the  sepul- 
chre of  the  dead.  At  his  coming  to  the  grave,  he  said,  "  Take 
76  away  the  stone."  To  which  Martha  answered,  "Lord,  by 
this  time  he  stinketh ;  for  he  hath  been  dead  four  days." 

She  meant  to  insinuate  that  her  brother's  resurrection  was 
not  now  to  be  expected. 

But  Jesus  gave  her  a  solemn  reproof,  to  teach  her  that 
there  was  nothing  impossible  with  God ;  and  that  the  power 
of  the  Almighty  is  not  to  be  circumscribed  within  the  narrow 
bounds  of  human  reason  :  "  Said  I  not  unto  thee,  that  if  thou 
wouldst  believe,  thou  shouldst  see  the  glory  of  God  ?"  that 
is.  Have  but  faith,  and  I  will  display  before  thee  the  power 
of  Omnipotence. 

The  objections  of  Martha  being  thus  obviated,  she,  with 
the  rest,  waited  the  great  event  in  silence ;  and  in  pursuance 
of  the  command  of  the  Son  of  God,  took  away  the  stone 
from  the  place  where  the  dead  was  laid.     Jesus  had,  on  many 


CHRIST.  217 

occasions,  publicly  appealed  to  his  own  miracles  as  the  proofs 
of  his  mission,  though  he  did  not  generally  make  a  formal 
address  to  his  Father,  before  he  worked  those  miracles. 

But  being  now  to  raise  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  he  prayed 
for  his  resurrection,  to  convince  the  spectators  that  it  could 
not  be  effected  without  an  immediate  interposition  of  the 
divine  power.  "Father,"  said  he,  "I  thank  thee  that  thou 
hast  heard  me.  And  I  knew  that  thou  hearest  me  always  ; 
but  because  of  the  people  which  stand  by  I  said  it,  that  they 
may  believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me."  After  returning  thanks 
to  his  Father,  for  this  opportunity  of  displaying  his  glory, 
"he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  Lazarus,  come  forth !" 

This  loud  and  efficacious  call  of  the  Son  of  God  awakened 
the  dead  ;  the  breathless  clay  was  instantly  reanimated ;  and 
he  who  had  lain  four  days  in  the  tomb,  obeyed  immediately 
the  powerful  sound. 

"  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go," 

There  is  something  extremely  beautiful  in  our  Lord's 
behavior  on  this  occasion ;  he  did  not  utter  one  upbraiding 
word,  either  to  the  doubting  sisters  or  the  malicious  Jews, 
nor  did  he  let  fall  one  word  of  triumph  or  exultation. 
"  Loose  him,  and  let  him  go,"  were  the  only  words  we  have 
recorded.  He  was  in  this,  as  on  all  other  occasions,  consis- 
tent with  himself — a  pattern  of  perfect  humility  and  modesty. 

Such  was  the  astonishing  work  wrought  by  Jesus  at  Beth- 
any ;  and  in  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  thus  corrupted,  and 
thus  raised  by  a  powerful,  divine  call,  we  have  a  striking 
emblem  and  a  glorious  earnest  of  the  resurrection  of  our 
bodies  from  the  grave  at  the  last  day,  when  the  same  power- 
ful mandate  which  spoke  Lazarus  again  into  being,  shall  col 
lect  the  scattered  particles  of  our  bodies,  and  raise  them  to 
immortality. 

Such  an  extraordinary  power,  displayed  before  the  face  of 
a  multitude,  and  near  to  Jerusalem,  even  overcame  the  preju- 
dices of  some  of  the  most  obstinate  among  them.  Many 
believed  that  Jesus  could  be  no  other,  than  the  great  Messiah 
so  long  promised ;  though  others,  who  still  expected  a  tem- 
poral prince,  and  were  therefore  unwilling  to  acknowledge 


218  CHRIST. 

him  for  their  Saviour,  were  filled  with  indignation,  particu- 
larly the  chief  priests  and  elders. 

But  this  miracle,  as  well  as  all  the  rest  he  had  wrought  in 
confirmation  of  his  mission,  was  too  evident  to  be  denied ; 
and  therefore  they  pretended  that  his  whole  intention  was  to 
establish  a  new  sect  in  religion,  which  would  endanger  both 
their  church  and  nation. 

Accordingly,  they  called  a  council,  and  came  to  a  resolu- 
tion to  put  him  to  death.  This  resolution  was  not,  however, 
unanimous,  for  Nicodemus,  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  other 
disciples  of  the  Saviour,  then  members  of  the  council,  urged 
the  injustice  of  what  they  proposed  to  do,  from  the  conside- 
ration of  his  miracles  and  his  innocence. 

But  Caiaphas,  the  high  priest,  from  a  principle  of  human 
policy,  told  them  that  the  nature  of  government  often  re- 
quired certain  acts  of  injustice  in  order  to  procure  the  safety 
of  the  state. 

The  council  having  thus  determined  to  put  Jesus  to  death, 
deliberated  for  the  future  only  upon  the  best  methods  of 
effecting  it;  and  in  all 'probability  agreed  to  issue  a  procla- 
mation, promising  a  reward  to  any  person  who  would  deliver 
him  into  their  hands. 

For  this  reason  our  blessed  Saviour  did  not  go  up  to  Jeru- 
salem, though  he  was  within  two  miles  of  it ;  but  went  to 
Ephraim,  a  city  on  the  borders  of  the* wilderness,  where  he 
abode  with  his  disciples,  being  unwilhng  to  go  too  far  into 
the  country,  because  the  passover  at  which  he  was  to  suffer 
was  now  at  hand. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BLESSES  CHILDREN  AS  EMBLEMS  OF  HEAVENLY  TEMPER;    DECLARES  THE 

WAY  OF  SALVATION  TO  THE  RULER;   RESTORES  SIGHT  TO  THE  BLIND; 

MAKES  A  PUBLIC  ENTRY  INTO  JERUSALEM;   PREDICTS  THE 

DESOLATION  OF  THE  TEMPLE ;    IS  ANOINTED  BY 

A  POOR  WOMAN. 

"HILE  the  blessed  Jesus  remained  in  retirement 
on  the  borders  of  the  wilderness,  he  was  de- 
sired by  some  of  the  Pharisees  to  inform  them 
when  the  Messiah's  kingdom  would  commence. 
Nor  is  their  anxiety  on  that  account  a  matter 
of  surprise ;  for  as  they  entertained  very  exalted  notions  of 
his  coming  in  pomp  and  magnificence,  it  was  natural  for 
them  to  be  very  desirous  of  having  his  empire  speedily 
erected.  But  our  Saviour,  to  correct  this  mistaken  notion, 
told  them  that  the  Messiah's  kingdom  did  not  consist  in  any 
external  form  of  government,  erected  in  some  particular 
country  by  terror  of  arms  and  the  desolation  of  war,  but  in 
the  subjection  of  the  minds  of  men,  and  in  rendering  them 
conformable  to  the  laws  of  the  Almighty,  which  was  to  be 
eflPected  by  a  new  dispensation  of  rehgion,  and  this  dispensa- 
tion was  already  begun.  It  was  therefore  needless  for  them 
to  seek  in  this  or  that  place  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  it  had 
been  already  preached  among  them  by  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, and  confirmed  by  innumerable  miracles. 

Having  thus  addressed  the  Pharisees,  he  turned  himself 
to  his  disciples,  and,  in  the  hearing  of  all  the  people,  proph- 
esied the  destruction  of  the  Jewish  state  ;  whose  constitution, 
both  religious  and  civil,  was  the  chief  difficulty  that  opposed 
the  erection  of  his  kingdom. 

But  because  love  and  compassion  were  eminent  parts  of 
our  Saviour's  temper,  he  mentioned  that  dreadful  catastrophe 
in  such  a  manner  as  might  tend  to  the  reformation  and  profit 
of  his  hearers.  He  informed  them  that  the  prelude  to  this 
final  destruction  would  be  a  state  of  universal  distress  ;  when 


220  CHRIST. 

they  should  passionately  wish  for  the  personal  presence  of 
the  Messiah  to  comfort  them,  but  would  be  denied  their 
request. 

Having  foretold  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  he  spake 
the  following  parable,  in  order  to  excite  them  to  a  constant 
perseverance  in  prayer,  and  not  to  be  so  weary  and  faint  in 
their  minds,  as  to  neglect  or  wholly  omit  this  necessary  duty. 

There  was  in  a  city,  said  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  a  judge, 
who,  being  governed  by  atheistical  principles,  had  no  regard 
to  the  precepts  of  religion,  and  being  very  powerful,  did  not 
regard  what  was  said  of  him  by  any  man ;  so  that  all  his 
decisions  were  influenced  merely  by  passion  or  interest.  In 
the  same  city  was  also  a  widow,  who,  having  no  friends  to 
assist  her,  was  absolutely  unable  to  defend  herself  from  inju- 
ries, or  procure  redress  for  any  she  had  received.  In  this 
deplorable  situation,  she  had  recourse  to  the  unjust  judge,  in 
order  to  obtain  satisfaction  for  some  oppressive  wrong  she 
had  lately  received;  but  the  judge  v/as  so  abandoned  to 
pleasure,  that  he  refused,  for  a  time,  to  listen  to  her  request ; 
he  would  not  give  himself  the  trouble  to  examine  her  case, 
though  the  crying  injustice  pleaded  so  powerfully  for  this 
distressed  widow.  She  was  not,  however,  intimidated  by  his 
refusal;  she  incessantly  importuned  him,  till,  by  repeated 
representations  of  her  distress,  she  filled  his  mind  with  such 
displeasing  ideas,  that  he  was  obliged  to  do  her  justice,  merely 
to  free  himself  from  her  importunity.  The  sentiment  con- 
veyed in  this  parable  is  very  beautiful.  We  hence  learn  that 
the  cries  of  the  afflicted  will,  by  being  incessantly  repeated, 
make  an  impression  even  on  the  stony  hearts  of  wicked 
men,  who  glory  in  their  impiety,  and  laugh  at  all  the  pre- 
cepts of  justice,  virtue,  and  religion ;  and  therefore  can  not 
fail  of  being  regarded  by  the  benevolent  Father  of  the  uni- 
verse, who  listens  to  the  petitions  of  his  faithful  servants, 
and  pours  on  their  heads  the  choicest  of  his  blessings. 
"  Hear,"  said  the  blessed  Jesus,  "  what  the  unjust  judge  saith. 
And  shall  not  God  avenge  his  own  elect,  which  cry  day  and 
night  unto  him,  though  he  bear  long  with  them  ?  I  tell  you 
that  he  will  avenge  them  speedily." 


CHRIST,  221 

The  Saviour  having,  in  the  course  of  his  ministry,  per- 
formed innumerable  cures  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
several  persons,  who  earnestly  desired  that  his  blessing  might 
rest  upon  their  offspring  as  well  as  themselves,  brought  their 
children  to  him,  desiring  that  he  would  put  his  hands  upon 
them,  and  bless  them. 

The  disciples,  however,  mistaking  the  intention,  were 
angry  with  the  persons,  and  rebuked  them  for  endeavoring 
to  give  this  trouble  to  their  Master. 

But  Jesus  no  sooner  saw  it,  than  he  was  greatly  displeased 
with  his  disciples,  and  ordered  them  not  to  hinder  parents 
from  bringing  their  children  to  him.  "  Suffer  little  children," 
said  he,  "  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not ;  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  God."  Such  are  those  in  a  spiritual  light, 
who  are  brought  to  a  sense  of  their  sins,  and  are  humbled 
for  them  in  the  sight  of  God. 

As  the  period  of  our  blessed  Saviour's  passion  was  now 
approaching,  he  departed  from  Ephraim,  and  repaired  by 
the  way  of  Jericho  toward  Jerusalem  :  but  before  he  arrived 
at  Jericho,  a  ruler  of  the  synagogue  came  running  to  him, 
and,  kneeling  down  before  him,  asked  him,  "Good  Master, 
what  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eternal  life  ?"  This  young 
magistrate  or  ruler  pretended  to  pay  great  honor  to  the 
Kedeemer,  yet  the  whole  was  no  more  than  a  piece  of  rail- 
lery, as  it  appears  from  his  unwillingness  to  obey  him. 
Jesus  well  kncAi  his  secret  intensions,  and  beheld  the  inmost 
recesses  of  his  soul ;  and  accordingly  rebuked  him  for  his 
hypocritical  address,  before  he  answered  the  question.  The 
Saviour,  willing  to  make  him  sensible  of  his  secret  desire  of 
possessing  the  riches  of  this  world,  told  him  that,  if  he  aimed 
at  perfection,  he  should  distribute  his  possessions  among  the 
poor  and  indigent,  and  become  his  disciple.  His  heart,  how- 
ever, being  set  upon  his  worldly  treasures,  he  had  no  inclina- 
tion to  a  religion  that  enjoins  self-denial  and  parting  with  oui 
darling  sins,  and  "  went  away  sorrowful." 

This  melancholy  instance  of  the  pernicious  influence  of 
riches  over  the  minds  of  the  children  of  men,  induced  the 
Saviour  to  caution  his"  disciples  against  fixing  their  minds  on 


222 


CHEIST. 


things  of  such  frightful  tendency,  by  showing  how  very  diffi- 
cult it  was  for  a  rich  man  to  procure  a  habitation  in  the 
regions  of  eternal  happiness,  in  which  discourse  he  used  the 
striking  figure  of  a  "camel"  passing  through  a  needle's  eye. 

Jesus,  with  his  disciples  and  the  multitude  that  accompa 
nied  him,  were  now  arrived  at  Jericho,  a  famous  city  of  Pal- 
estine, and  the  second  in  the  kingdom,  Near  this  town  Jesus 
cured  two  blind  men,  who  sat  by  the  road,  begging,  and 
expressed  their  belief  in  him  as  the  Messiah.  After  confer- 
ring sight  upon  them,  Zaccheus,  chief  of  the  publicans, 
having  often  heard  the  fame  of  our  Saviour's  miracles,  was 
desirous  of  seeing  his  person  ;  but  the  lowness  of  his  stature 
preventing  him  from  satisfying  his  curiosity,  "he  ran  before, 
and  climbed  up  a  sycamore-tree  to  see  him ;  for  he  was  to 
.pass  that  way."  As  Jesus  approached  the  place  where  he 
was,  "he  looked  up,  and  saw  him,  and  said  imto  him,  Zac- 
cheus, make  haste,  and  come  down ;  for  to-day  I  myist  abide 
at  thy  house." 

The  publican  expressed  his  joy  at  our  Lord's  condescension 
to  visit  him,  took  him  to  his  house,  and  showed  him  all  the 
marks  of  civility  in  his  power. 

Here  our  Lord  availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  of  pro- 
claiming divine  truth,  and  having  taught  them,  he  left  the 
house,  and  continued  his  journey  toward  Jerusalem,  where 
he  proposed  to  celebrate  the  passover,  and  was  earnestly 
expected  by  the  people,  who  came  up  to  pujify  themselves, 
and  who  began  to  doubt  whether  he  would  venture  to  come 
to  the  feast.  This  delay,  however,  was  occasioned  by  the 
proclamation  issued  by  the  chief  priests,  promising  a  reward 
to  any  who  would  discover  the  place  of  his  retirement. 

Six  days  before  the  passover,  Jesus  arrived  at  Bethany, 
and  repaired  to  the  house  of  Lazarus,  whom  he  had  raised 
from  the  dead.  "  There  they  made  him  a  supper,  and  Martha 
served ;  but  Lazarus  was  one  of  them  that  sat  at  the  table 
with  him." 

Mary,  with  usual  devotion  and  humility,  took  a  costly 
ointment,  and  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus,  wiping  them  with 
the  hair  of  her  head :  "  and  the  house  was  filled  with  the 


CHRIST. 


223 


odor  of  the  ointment."    Acceptable  offering  indfeed  to  the 
blessed  Jesus,  because  prompted  by  a  loving  heart. 

The  covetous  spirit  of  Judas  Iscariot  professed  regret  at 
the  seeming  waste,  when  it  might  have  benefited  the  poor ; 
but  our  Lord,  knowing  his  motives,  rebuked  him,  and  com- 
mended the  act  of  the  woman. 

As  Bethany  was  not  above  two  miles  from  Jerusalem,  the 
news  of  his  arrival  was  soon  spread  through  the  capital,  and 
great  numbers  of  the  citizens  came  to  see  Lazarus,  who  had 
been  raised  from  the  dead,  together  with  the  great  Prophet 
who  had  wrought  so  stupendous  a  miracle ;  and  many  of 
them  were  convinced  both  of  the  resurrection  of  the  former, 
and  the  divinity  of  the  latter ;  but  the  news  of  their  conver- 
sion, together  with  the  reason  of  it,  being  currently  reported 
in  Jerusalem,  the  chief  priests  were  soon  sensible  of  the 
weight  so  great  a  miracle  must  have  on  the  minds  of  the 
people ;  and  therefore  determined,  if  possible,  to  put  both 
Lazarus  and  Jesus  to  death. 

Our  blessed  Lord,  though  he  knew  the  design  of  the  Jews 
upon  him,  also  knew  that  it  became  him  to  fulfill  all  right- 
eousness, and  was  so  far  from  declining  to  visit  Jerusalem, 
that  he  even  entered  it  in  a  public  manner,  and  that  too  amid 
the  joyful  acclamations  and  loud  hozannas  of  a  multitude  of 
people. 

As  our  blessed  Saviour  drew  near  the  city,  surrounded  by 
the  rejoicing  crowd,  notwithstanding  the  many  affronts  he 
had  there  received,  he  beheld  the  city  with  a  divine  generos- 
ity and  benevolence  which  nothing  can  equal,  wept  over  it, 
and,  in  the  most  pathetic  manner,  lamented  the  calamities 
which  he  foresaw  were  coming  upon  it,  because  its  inhabit- 
ants were  ignorant  of  the  time  of  their  visitation. 

"  If,"  said  he,  "  thou  hadst  known,  even  thou,  at  least  in 
this  thy  day,  the  things  which  belong  unto  thy  peace  !  But 
now  they  are  hid  from  thine  eyes." 

Behold  here,  ye  wondering  mortals,  behold  an  example  of 
generosity  infinitely  superior  to  any  furnished  by  the  heathen 
world ;  an  example  highly  worthy  for  them  to  imitate  and 
admire. 


224  CHRIST. 

Jesus  rode  immediately  to  the  temple ;  but  it  being  eve- 
ning, lie  soon  left  the  city,  to  the  great  discouragement  of  the 
people,  who  expected  he  was  immediately  to  have  taken  into 
his  hands  the  reins  of  government. 

At  the  earliest  dawn  he  left  Bethany,  to  visit  again  the 
capital  of  Judea.  And  as  he  pursued  his  journey,  he  saw  at 
a  distance  a  fig-tree,  which,  from  its  fullness  of  leaves,  prom- 
ised abundance  of  fruit.  This  inviting  object  induced  him 
to  approach  it,  in  expectation  of  finding  figs ;  for  he  was 
hungry,  and  the  season  for  gathering  them  had  not  yet  ar- 
rived ;  but  on  his  coming  to  the  tree,  he  found  it  to  be  really 
barren :  upon  which  the  blessed  Jesus  said  to  it,  "  Let  no 
fruit  grow  on  thee  henceforward,  for  ever."  This  action, 
which  was  purely  emblematical,  and  prefigured  the  speedy 
ruin  of  the  Jewish  nation,  on  account  of  its  unfruitfulness, 
under  all  the  advantages  it  then  enjoyed,  has,  by  the  enemies 
of  revelation,  been  represented  as  an  action  unbecoming  the 
Eedeemer  of  mankind.  But  if  they  had  fully  considered  its 
intention,  they  would  have  been  clearly  convinced,  that,  like 
the  rest  of  his  miracles,  it  was  done  with  a  gracious  inten- 
tion— namely,  to  awaken  the  Jews  from  their  lethargy,  and 
by  timely  repentance  prevent  the  total  ruin  of  their  church 
and  nation. 

"While  in  the  temple,  he  continued  to  rebuke  and  exhort 
the  people,  and  in  foretelling  his  death  was  so  affected,  that 
he  uttered  in  a  very  pathetic  manner  his  grief,  and  addressed 
his  heavenly  Father  for  succor  in  his  distress.  "  Now  is  my 
soul  troubled ;  and  what  shall  I  say  ?  Father,  save  me  from 
this  hour :  but  for  this  cause  came  I  unto  this  hour."  This 
should  teach  us,  that  prayer  is  the  only  method  of  easing  the 
mind  overwhelmed  with  distress ;  but  at  the  same  time  to  be 
always  resigned  to  the  divine  will :  for  though  the  weakness 
of  human  nature  may  shrink  when  persecution  or  sufferings 
of  any  kind  appear,  yet,  by  reflecting  on  the  wisdom,  good- 
ness, and  power  of  God  to  deliver  us,  we  ought  to  support 
every  trial,  however  severe,  with  patience,  as  he  doubtless 
proposes  some  happy  ends  by  these  afflictions. 

Our  Lord,  having  made  a  short  prayer  to  his  Father, 


CHRIST.  225 

begged  him  to  demonstrate  the  truth  of  his  mission,  by  some 
token  which  could  not  be  resisted :  "  Father,  glorify  thy 
name."  Nor  had  he  hardly  uttered  these  words,  before  he 
was  answered  by  an  audible  voice  from  heaven:  "I  have 
both  glorified  it,  and'  will  glorify  it  again." 

Jesus,  the  infallible  preacher  of  righteousness,  having 
given  many  precepts,  spoken  many  parables,  and  exposed 
the  secret  practices  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  repaired 
with  'his  disciples  into  the  court  of  the  women,  called  the 
treasury,  from  several  chests  being  fixed  to  the  pillars  of  the 
portico  surrounding  the  court,  for  receiving  the  offerings  of 
those  who  came  to  worship  in  the  temple.  While  he  contin- 
ued in  the  court,  he  "  beheld  how  the  people  cast  money  into 
the  treasury ;  and  many  that  were  rich  cast  in  much.  And 
there  came  a  certain  poor  widow,  and  she  threw  in  two 
mites,  which  make  a  farthing.  And  he  called  unto  him  his 
disciples,  and  saith  unto  them,  Yerily,  I  say  unto  you,  that 
this  poor  widow  hath  cast  more  in  than  all  they  which  have 
cast  into  the  treasury :  for  all  they  did  cast  in  of  their  abun- 
dance ;  but  she  of  her  want  did  cast  in  all  that  she  had,  even 
all  her  living." 

Though  the  offering  given  by  this  poor  widow  was  in  itself 
very  small,  yet,  in  proportion  to  the  goods  of  fortune  she 
enjoyed,  it  was  remarkably  large ;  for  it  was  all  that  she  had, 
even  all  her  living.  In  order,  therefore,  to  encourage  charity, 
and  show  that  it  is  the  disposition  of  the  mind,  not  the  mag- 
nificence of  the  offering,  that  attracted  the  regard  of  the 
Almighty,  the  Son  of  God  applauded  this  poor  widow,  as 
having  given  more  in  proportion  than  any  of  the  rich.  And 
from  this  passage  of  the  gospel  we  should  learn  that  the  poor, 
who  in  appearance  are  denied  the  means  of  doing  charitable 
ofl&ces,  are  encouraged  to  do  all  they  can ;  for  how  small 
soever  the  gift  may  be,  the  Almighty,  who  beholds  the  heart, 
values  it,  not  according  to  what  it  is  in  itself,  but  according 
to  the  disposition  with  which  it  is  given. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  should  learn  from  hence  that  it  is 

not  enough  for  the  rich  that  they  exceed  the  poor  in  the  gifts 

of  charity ;  they  should  bestow  in  proportion  to  their  income  • 

15 


226  CHRIST. 

and  they  would  do  well  to  remember  that  a  little  given, 
where  a  little  only  is  left,  appears  a  much  nobler  offering  in 
the  sight  of  God,  and  discovers  a  more  benevolent  and 
humane  temper  of  mind,  than  sums  much  larger,  bestowed 
out  of  a  plentiful  abundance. 

The  disciples  now  remembered  that  their  Master,  at  the 
conclusion  of  his  pathetic  lamentation  over  Jerusalem,  had 
declared  that  the  temple  should  not  any  more  be  favored 
with  his  presence,  till  they  should  say,  "  Blessed  is  he  that 
cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."  A  declaration  of  this 
kind  could  not  fail  of  greatly  surprising  his  disciples ;  and 
therefore,  as  he  was  departing  from  that  sacred  structure, 
they  desired  him  to  observe  the  beauty  of  the  building,  insin- 
uating that  they  thought  it  strange  he  should  intimate  an 
intention  of  leaving  it  desolate ;  that  so  glorious  a  fabric, 
celebrated  in  every  corner  of  the  earth,  was  not  to  be  deserted 
rashly !  and  that  they  should  think  themselves  supremely 
happy  when  he,  as  the  Messiah,  and  descendant  of  David, 
should  take  possession  of  it,  and  erect  his  throne  in  the  midst 
of  Jerusalem. 

The  eastern  wall  of  the  temple,  which  fronted  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  whither  the  disciples,  with  their  Master,  were  then 
retiring,  was  built  from  the  bottom  of  the  valley  to  a  pro- 
digious height,  with  stones  of  an  incredible  bulk,  firmly  com- 
pacted together,  and  therefore  made  a  very  grand  appearance 
at  a  distance.  The  eastern  wall  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  only  remains  of  Solomon's  temple,  and  had  escaped  when 
the  Chaldeans  burnt  it.  But  this  building,  however  strong 
or  costly  it  appeared,  our  Saviour  told  them  should  be  totally 
destroyed.  That  noble  edifice,  raised  with  much  labor  and 
at  vast  expense,  shall  be  razed  to  the  very  foundation.  The 
disciples,  therefore,  when  they  heard  their  Master  afiirm  that 
not  so  much  as  one  of  these  enormous  stones,  which  had 
withstood  the  fury  of  Nebuchadnezzar's  army,  and  survived 
the  destructive  hand  of  time,  was  to  be  left  one  upon  another, 
they  perceived  that  the  whole  temple  was  to  be  demolished, 
but  did  not  suspect  that  the  sacrifices  were  to  be  taken  away, 
and  a  new  mode  of  religion  introduced,  which  rendered  the 


CHRIST.  227 

temple  unnecessary.  They  therefore  flattered  themselves 
that  the  fabric  then  standing,  however  glorious  it  might 
appear,  was  too  small  for  the  numerous  worshipers  who 
would  frequent  it  when  all  the  nations  of  the  world  were 
subject  to  the  Messiah's  kingdom,  and  was  therefore  to  be 
pulled  down,  in  order  to  be  erected  on  a  more  magnificent 
plan,  suitable  to  the  idea  they  had  conceived  of  his  future 
empire.  Filled  with  these  pleasing  imaginations,  they  re- 
ceived the  news  with  pleasure,  meditating,  as  they  walked  to 
the  mountain,  on  the  glorious  things  which,  were  shortly  to 
come  to  pass. 

When  their  Master  had  taken  his  seat  on  some  eminence 
of  the  sacred  mountain,  from  whence  they  had  a  prospect  of 
the  temple  and  part  of  the  city,  his  disciples  drew  near,  to 
inquire  when  the  demolition  of  the  old  structure  was  to  hap- 
pen, and  what  were  to  be  the  signs  of  his  coming,  and  of  the 
end  of  the  world. 

His  disciples,  by  this  request,  seemed  desirous  of  knowing 
what  signs  should  precede  the  erection  of  that  extensive 
kingdom  over  which  they  supposed  the  Messiah  was  to  reign, 
in  a  secular  view.  They  therefore  connected  the  demolition 
of  the  temple  with  their  Master's  coming,  though  they  had 
not  the  least  notion  that  he  was  to  destroy  the  nation,  and 
change  the  form  of  religious  worship.  They  therefore 
meant,  by  the  "end  of  the  world,"  or,  as  the  words  should 
have  been  translated,  the  end  of  the  age,  the  period  of  the 
political  government  then  executed  by  heathen  procurators, 
and  considered  their  Master's  coming  to  destroy  the  constitu- 
tion then  subsisting,  as  a  very  desirable  event.* 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  therefore,  was  careful  to  convince 
them  of  their  mistake,  by  telling  them  that  he  was  not  come 
to  rule  a  secular  empire,  as  they  supposed,  but  to  punish  the 
Jews  for  their  perfidy  and  rebellion,  by  destroying  both  their 
temple  and  nation.  , 

The    heavenly    Prophet   added  many  exhortations   and  ■ 
A7arnings,  bidding  his  disciples  be  watchful  and  prayerful — 
ready  for  his  coming  in  a  spiritual  sense. 

He  spake  many  parables,  after  which  he  added  an  account 


228  CHEIST. 

of  his  own  death,  in  order  to  fortify  his  disciples  against  a 
greater  trial  than  they  had  jet  met  with — ^namely,  the  suffer 
ings  of  their  Master. 

When  the  evening  approached,  our  blessed  Saviour,  with 
his  disciples,  repaired  to  Bethany,  and  entered  the  house  of 
Simon  the  leper,  probably  one  who  had  experienced  the 
healing  efficacy  of  his  power.  But  while  he  sat  at  meat,  a 
woman,  who  had  also  doubtless  been  an  object  of  his  mercy, 
poured  a  box  of  precious  ointment  upon  his  head. 

The  action  displeased  his  discijoles,  who  knew  that  their 
Master  was  not  delighted  with  luxuries  of  any  kind ;  and 
therefore  they  rebuked  the  woman,  imagining  that  it  would 
have  been  more  acceptable  to  the  Son  of  God,  if  the  oint- 
ment had  been  sold,  and  the  money  distributed  among  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  poverty  and  affliction. 

To  reprove  the  disciples,  Jesus  told  them  that  it  pleased 
the  Divine  Providence  to  order  that  there  should  always  be 
persons  in  necessitous  circumstances,  that  the  virtuous  might 
never  want  occasions  for  exercising  their  charity ;  but  that 
those  who  did  not  now  testify  their  love  to  him,  would  never 
"more  have  the  opportunity  of  doing  it,  as  the  time  of  his 
ministry  was  near  its  period,  when  the  king  of  terrors  should 
enjoy  a  short  triumph  over  his  body;  and  therefore  this 
woman  had  seasonably  anointed  him  for  his  burial.  And  to 
make  them  sensible  of  their  folfy,  in  blaming  the  woman  for 
this,  her  expression  of  love  to  him,  he  assured  them  that  she 
should  be  highly  esteemed  for  this  action  in  every  part  of 
the  world,  and  her  memory  live  to  the  latest  period  of  time. 

Judas  Iscariot,  one  of  the  twelve,  having  been  more  for- 
ward than  the  rest  in  condemning  the  woman,  thought  the 
rebuke  was  particularly  directed  to  him. 

Stung  with  the  guilt  of  his  conscience,  he  rose  from  the 
table,  went  immediately  into  the  city,  to  the  high  priest's 
palace,  where  he  found  the  whole  council  assembled.  His 
passion  would  not  suffer  him  to  reflect  on  the  horrid  deed  he 
was  going  to  commit;  he  immediately  promised,  for  the 
reward  of  thirty  shekels  of  silver,  to  betray  into  their  hands 
his  Lord  and  Master.     Having-  thus  eng-asred  with  the  rulers 

o  o    o 


CHRIST.  229 

of  Israel  to  put  into  their  hands  a  person  who  had  been  long 
laboring  for  their  salvation,  who  had  often  invited  them,  in 
the  most  pathetic  manner,  to  embrace  the  benevolent  terms 
of  the  gospel  offered  by  the  Almighty,  he  sought  an  oppor 
tunity  to  betray  him,  in  the  absence  of  the  multitude ! 

Our  Lord,  who  well  knew  that  the  time  of  his  suffering 
drew  nigh,  desired  therefore  to  celebrate  the  passover  with 
his  disciples.  He  was  now  going  to  finish  the  mighty  work 
for  which  he  came  into  the  world,  and  therefore  would  not 
neglect  to  fulfill  the  smallest  particular  of  the  law  of  Moses. 
He  therefore  sent  two  of  his  disciples  into  the  city,  to  prepare 
a  lamb,  and  make  it  ready  for  eating  the  passover ;  telling 
them  that  they  should  meet  a  man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water, 
who  should  conduct  them  to  his  house,  and  show  them  a 
large  upper  room,  furnished,  where  they  were  to  make  ready 
for  him. 

He  was  willing,  in  this  last  transaction,  to  convince  his 
disciples  that  he  knew  every  thing  that  should  befall  him ; 
that  his  sufferings  were  all  predetermined  by  the  Almighty, 
and  that  they  were  all  on  his  account  submitted  unto  volun- 
tarily. 


CHAPTER    X. 


THE  HUMBLE  JESUS  WASHES  HIS  DISCIPLES'  FEET ;    FORETELLS  HIS  BE 
TRAYER;    INSTITUTES  THE  SACRAMENT;    PRAYS  WITH  HIS  DISCI- 
PLES FOR  THE  LAST  TIME;    SUFFERINGS  IN  THE  GARDEN. 

'HEN  night  approached,  Jesus  left  Bethany, 
and  every  thing  being  ready  for  him  at  the 
time  he  entered  into  the  city,  he  sat  down  at 
the  appointed  hour.  But  knowing  that  his 
suffering  was  now  near,  he  told  his  disciples, 
in  the  most  affectionate  manner,  that  he  had  greatly  longed 
to  eat  the  passover  with  them  before  he  suffered,  in  order  to 
show  them  the  strongest  proofs  of  his  love.  These  proofs 
were  to  give  them  a  pattern  of  humility  and  charity,  by 
washing  their  feet,  instructing  them  in  the  nature  of  his 


230  CHRIST. 

death,  and  a  propitiatory  sacrifice,  instituting  the  sacrament 
in  commemoration  of  his  sufferings,  comforting  them  by  the 
tender  discourses  recorded,  (John,  14th,  15th,  16th,)  in  which 
he  gave  them  a  variety  of  excellent  directions,  together  with 
many  gracious  promises ;  and  recommending  them  to  the 
kind  protection  of  his  heavenly  Father. 

Having  thus  spoken,  he  arose  from  the  table,  laid  aside 
his  garment  like  a  servant,  and,  with  all  the  officiousness  of 
an  humble  minister,  washed  the  feet  of  his  disciples  without 
distinction,  (though  one  of  them,  Judas  Iscariot,  was  a  mon- 
ster of  impiety,)  that  they  might  at  once  behold  a  conjunction 
of  character  and  humility,  of  self-denial  and  indifference,  rep- 
resented by  a  person  glorious  beyond  expression,  their  great 
Lord  and  Master,  He  washed  their  feet,  (according  to  a 
custom  which  prevailed  in  those  hot  countries,  both  before 
and  after  meat,)  in  order  to  show  them  an  example  of  the 
utmost  humility  and  condescension. 

The  omnipotent  Son  of  the  Father  lays  every  thing  aside, 
that  he  may  serve  his  followers :  heaven  stoops  to  earth,  one 
abyss  calls  upon  another,  and  the  miseries  of  man,  which 
were  almost  infinite,  are  exceeded  by  a  mercy  equal  to  the 
immensity  of  the  Almighty.  He  deferred  this  ceremony, 
which  was  a  customary  civility  paid  to  honorable  strangers 
at  the  beginning  of  their  feast,  that  it  might  be  preparatory 
to  the  second,  which  he  intended  should  be  a  feast  to  the 
whole  world,  when  all  the  followers  of  the  blessed  Jesus 
should  have  an  opportunity,  in  a  spiritual  manner,  of  feeding 
on  his  flesh,  and  drinking  his  blood.  When  he  came  to 
Peter,  he  modestly  declined  it ;  but  his  Master  told  him,  if 
he  refused  to  submit  implicitly  to  all  his  orders,  he  could 
have  no  part  with  him.  On  which  Peter  cried  out,  "  Lord, 
not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head,"  But 
Jesus  told  him  that  the  person  who  had  bathed  himself  had 
no  reason  to  wash  any  part  of  the  tody,  except  his  ieet, 
which  might  need  cleansing  by  walking  from  the  bath  ;  and 
added,  ye  are  all  clean  as  to  the  outward  laver,  but  not  as  to 
the  spiritual  and  inward.  I  well  know  that  one  of  you  shall 
betray  me. 


CHRIST.  231 

When  our  gracious  Lord  had  finished  his  menial  service, 
he  asked  his  disciples  if  thej  knew  the  meaning  of  what  he 
had  done,  as  the  action  was  purely  emblematical.  You  truly, 
added  he,  style  me  Master  and  Lord ;  for  I  am  the  Son  of 
God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  But  if  I,  your  Master 
and  your  Lord,  have  condescended  to  wash  your  feet,  you 
surely  ought  to  perform,  with  the  utmost  pleasure,  the  hum- 
blest offices  of  love  one  to  another.  I  have  set  you  a  pattern 
of  humility,  and  I  recommend  it  to  you.  And  certainly 
nothing  can  more  effectually  show  us  the  necessity  of  this 
heavenly  temper  of  mind,  than  its  being  recommended  to  us 
by  so  great  an  example — a  recommendation  which,  in  the 
present  circumstances,  was  particularly  seasonable:  for  the 
disciples  having  heard  their  great  Master  declare  that  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  was  at  hand,  their  minds  were  filled  with 
ambitious  thoughts.  And  therefore  our  blessed  Saviour 
added.  Ye  need  not  be  ashamed  to  follow  my  example  in 
this  particular ;  for  no  servant  can  think  it  beneath  him  to 
condescend  to  perform  those  actions  his  Lord  has  done  for 
him.  And  therefore  if  he  knows  his  duty,  he  will  be  happy 
if  he  practices  it.  He  moreover  added,  that  though  he  had 
called  them  all  to  the  apostleship,  and  well  knew  the  secret 
dispositions  of  every  heart  before  he  chose  them,  they  need 
not  be  surprised  that  one  among  them  should  prove  a  traitor, 
as  thereby  the  Scripture  would  be  fulfilled  :  "  He  that  eateth 
bread  with  me,  hath  lifted  up  his  heel  against  me."  As  our 
Saviour  was  now  to  be  but  a  short  time  with  his  disciples, 
he  thought  proper  to  take  his  farewell  of  them,  which  he  did 
in  a  most  affectionate  manner. 

These  melancholy  tidings  greatly  troubled  them.  They 
were  unwilling  to  part  with  so  kind  a  friend,  so  dear  a  Mas- 
ter, so  wise  a  guide,  and  so  profitable  a  teacher ;  especially  as 
they  thought  they  should  be  left  in  a  forlorn  condition,  a 
poor  and  helpless  prey  to  the  rage  and  hatred  of  a  blind  and 
malicious  generation.  They  seemed  willing  to  die  with  their 
Lord,  if  that  might  be  accepted.  I  will  lay  down  my  life  for 
thee,  was  the  language  of  one,  and  even  of  all  of  them ; 
but  they  could  not  support  the  thoughts  of  a  disconsolate 


232  CHRIST. 

separation.  Their  great  and  compassionate  Master,  seeing 
them  thus  dejected,  endeavored  to  cheer  their  drooping  spirits. 
"Let  not  your  hearts  be  troubled."  Listen  attentively  to 
what  I  am  going  to  deliver  for  your  consolation.  "  I  am 
going  to  prepare  a  place  for  you ;  I  will  come  again,  and 
receive  you  to  myself,  that  where  I  am,  there  ye  may  be 
also."  A  reviving  word  of  promise !  They  were  one  day 
to  meet  again  their  dear,  their  affectionate  Master,  in  a  place 
where  they  should  live  together  to  all  eternity. 

But  death  makes  so  vast  a  distance  between  friends,  and 
the  disciples  then  knew  so  little  of  a  future  state,  that  they 
seemed  to  doubt  whether  they  should,  after  their  parting, 
meet  their  dear  Eedeemer.  They  neither  knew  the  place 
where  he  was  going,  nor  the.  way  that  led  to  his  kingdom. 
"Lord,"  said  they,  "  as  we  know  not  whither  thou  goest,  how 
can  we  know  the  way  ?"  In  answer  to  this  question,  he  told 
them  that  he  was  "  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life ;"  as  if  he 
had  said,  through  the  propitiatory  sacrifice  I  am  about  to 
offer,  the  sacred  truths  I  have  delivered,  and  the  divine  as- 
sistance I  shall  hereafter  dispense,  you  are  to  obtain  that  hap- 
piness which  I  go  to  prepare  for  you.  But  lest  all  these 
arguments  should  fail  to  quiet  their  minds,  be  had  still 
another,  which  could  not  but  be  sufficient:  "  If  ye  love  me," 
said  he,  "  ye  will  rejoice,  because  I  said  I  go  to  the  Father;" 
intimating  that  he  would  consider  it  as  a  proof  of  love  to 
him,  if  they  ceased  to  mourn. 

They  doubtless  thought  that,  by  grieving  for  his  death, 
they  expressed  their  love  to  their  Master ;  and  it  might  seem 
strange  that  our  Saviour  should  put  such  a  contrary  interpret- 
ation on  their  friendly  sorrow,  or  require  so  imnatural  a 
thing  of  them  as  to  rejoice  at  his  departure.  What!  (might 
they  think,)  shall  we  rejoice  at  so  amiable  a  friend's  removal 
from  us  ?  or  can  we  be  glad  that  he  retires,  and  leaves  us  in 
this  vale  of  misery  ?  No,  it  is  impossible ;  the  human  heart, 
on  so  melancholy  an  occasion,  can  have  no  disposition  to 
rejoice. 

The  Saviour  therefore  adds  this  reason,  to  solve  the  seem 
ing  paradox  :  "  because  he  was  going  to  the  Father ;"  that  is, 


CHRIST.  233 

lie  was  going  to  ascend  to  the  right  hand  of  Infinite  Power, 
from  whence  he  would  send  them  all  the  assistance  they 
could  desire.  It  must  not,  however,  be  supposed  that  he 
meant  by  these  words  that  his  disciples  should  not  be  con- 
cerned at  his  death,  or  that  they  could  not  love  him  unless 
they  expressed  a  visible  joy  on  this  occasion.  That  indeed 
would  have  been  a  hard  interpretation  of  their  grief;  he 
knew  their  grief  flowed  from  love ;  and  that  if  their  love 
had  not  been  strong,  their  sorrow  had  been  much  less. 
Indeed,  their  Master  was  fully  convinced  that  love  was  the 
occasion  of  their  sorrow ;  and  therefore  he  used  these  argu- 
ments to  mitigate  it,  and  direct  it  in  a  proper  course. 

Nor  did  our  Lord  intend  to  intimate  that  all  sorrow  for  so 
worthy  a  friend  was  unlawful,  or  an  unbecoming  expression 
of  their  love ;  doubtless  he  was  not  displeased  to  see  his  dis- 
ciples so  tenderly  affected  at  his  removal  from  them.  He 
who  shed  tears  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  blended  with  sighs 
and  groans,  can  not  be  thought  to  forbid  them  wholly  at  his 
own.  He  therefore  did  not  chide  his  disciples  with  angry 
reproaches,  as  though  they  had  been  entirely  in  the  wrong, 
but  gently  reasoned  with  them  by  kind  persuasions.  "Let 
not  your  hearts  be  troubled,"  as  rather  pitying  than  condemn- 
ing their  sorrow. 

Soon  after  Jesus  had  spoken  these  things,  his  heart  was 
greatly  troubled,  to  think  that  one  of  his  disciples  should 
prove  his  enemy  ;  he  complained  of  it  at  the  table,  declaring 
that  one  of  them  should  betray  him. 

This  moving  declaration  greatly  affected  his  disciples,  and 
they  began  every  one  of  them  to  say  to  their  Master,  "Lord, 
is  it  I  ?"  But  Jesus  giving  them  no  decisive  answer,  John, 
the  beloved  disciple,  whose  sweet  disposition  and  other  amia- 
ble qualities  are  perpetuated  in  the  peculiar  love  his  great 
Master  bore  him,  and  who  was  now  reclining  on  his  bosom, 
asked  him  who  among  the  disciples  could  be  guilty  of  so 
detestable  a  crime.  Jesus  told  him  that  the  person  to  whom 
he  should  give  the  sop,  when  he  had  dipped  it,  was  he  who 
should  betray  him.  Accordingly,  as  soon  as  he  had  dipped 
the  sop  in  the  dish,  he  gave  it  to  Judas  Iscariot,  saying  to 


234  CHRIST. 

him  at  the  same  time,  "  That  thou  doest,  do  quickly."  Judas 
received  the  sop  without  knowing  any  thing  of  what  his 
Master  had  told  the  beloved  disciple ;  nor  did  any  of  the 
disciples,  except  St.  John,  entertain  the  least  suspicion  that 
Judas  was  the  person  who  would  .betray  their  Master.  The 
innocent  disciples  were  indeed  so  deeply  affected  with  this 
declaration  that  one  of  them  should  betray  him,  that  they 
did  not  remark  the  words  of  Jesus  to  his  apostate  disciple, 
but  continued  to  ask  him  who  was  the  person  that  should  be 
guilty  of  so  base  a  crime. 

Willing  at  last  to  satisfy  their  importunity,  the  blessed 
Jesus  declared  that  the  person  who  dipped  his  hand  with  him 
in  the  dish,  should  betray  him.  This  to  the  eleven  was  a 
joyful  declaration,  but  confounding  in  the  highest  degree  to 
Judas.  Impudent  as  he  was,  it  struck  him  speechless,  point- 
ing him  out  plainly,  and  displaying  the  foulness  of  his  heart. 

While  Judas  continued  mute  with  confusion,  Jesus  declared 
that  his  death  should  be  brought  about  according  to  the  de- 
crees of  Heaven,  though  that  would  not  in  the  least  mitigate 
the  crime  of  the  person  who  betrayed  him;  adding,  "It  had 
been  good  for  that  man,  if  he  had  not  been  born."  Judas 
having  now  recovered  himself  a  little,  asserted  his  innocence 
by  a  question  which  implied  a  denial  of  the  charge.  But  his 
Master  soon  silenced  him,  by  positively  affirming  that  he  was 
really  the  person. 

Ever  mindful  of  the  grand  design  of  his  mission,  even  the 
salvation  of  lost  and  perishing  sinners,  the  great  Redeemer 
was  not  in  the  least  prevented  by  the  treachery  of  his  apos- 
tate disciple ;  for  knowing  that  he  must  become  a  sacrifice 
for  sin,  he  instituted  the  sacrament  of  his  supper,*  to  perpet- 
uate the  memory  of  it  through  all  ages. 

Accordingly,  as  they  were  eating  the  Paschal  supper, 
"  Jesus  took  bread,  and  blessed  it,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it 
to  the  disciples,  and  said.  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my  body."  Ob- 
serve this  rite  no  longer  in  commemoration  of  your  deliver- 
ance from  Egypt,  but  in  remembrance  of  me,  who,  by  dying 
for  you,  will  bring  you  out  of  the  spiritual  bondage — a  bond- 
age far  worse  than  the  Egyptian,  under  which  your  fathers 


CHRIST.  235 

groaned,  and  will  establisli  you  in  the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God.  Do  it  in  remembrance  of  me,  who,  by 
laying  down  my  life,  will  ransom  you  from  sin,  from  death, 
from  hell,  and  Avill  set  open  the  gates  of  heaven  to  you,  that 
you  may  enter  immortality  in  triumph. 

Having  given  the  bread  to  his  disciples,  he  also  took  the 
cup,  and  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  "  Drink  ye  all  of  it ;  for 
this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament,  which  is  shed  for 
many,  for  the  remission  of  sins."  All  of  you,  and  all  of  my 
disciples  in  all  ages,  must  drink  of  this  cup,  because  it  repre- 
sents my  blood  shed  for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  man- 
kind ;  my  blood,  by  which  the  new  covenant  between  God 
and  man  is  ratified.  It  is  therefore  my  blood  of  the  new 
covenant;  so  that  this  institution  exhibits  to  your  joyful 
meditation  the  grand  basis  of  the  hopes  of  the  children  of 
men,  and  perpetuates  the  memory  of  it  to  the  end  of  the 
world.  He  added,  "I  will  not  drink  henceforth  of  the  fruit 
of  the  vine,  until  that  day  when  I  drink  it  new  with  you  in 
my  Father's  kingdom." 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  after  delivering  the  sacramental  cup, 
and  telling  them  that  his  blood  was  shed  for  them,  mentioned 
the  treachery  of  Judas  a  second  time.  "  Behold,  he  is  at 
hand  that  doth  betray  me."  This  second  declaration  was 
made  very  properly  after  the  institution  of  the  sacrament, 
which  exhibits  the  highest  instance  of  our  great  Redeemer's 
love  to  mankind,  his  dying  to  obtain  remission  of  their  sins; 
for  it  abundantly  proves  that  the  person  who  could  delibe- 
rately be  guilty  of  such  an  injury  to  so  kind  a  friend,  must 
have  been  a  monster,  the  foulness  of  whose  ingratitude  can 
not  be  described  by  the  force  of  language. 

The  important,  the  awful  scene  now  approached,  when  the 
great  work  was  to  be  finished.  The  traitor,  Judas,  was  gone 
to  the  chief  priests  and  elders  for  a  band  of  soldiers  to  ap- 
prehend him ;  but  this  did  not  discompose  the  Eedeemer ; 
he  took  occasion  to  meditate  on  the  glory  that  would  accrue, 
both  to  himself  and  to  the  Almighty,  from  those  sufi^erings, 
and  spake  of  it  to  his  disciples:  "Now,"  said  he,  "is  the 
Son  of  Man  glorified,  and  God  is  glorified  in  him." 


236 


CHEIST. 


He  told  them  that,  having  already  done  honor  to  his 
Father  by  the  past  actions  of  his  life,  and  being  about  to 
honor  him  yet  further  by  his  sufferings  and  death,  which 
would  display  his  perfections,  particularly  his  infinite  love  to 
the  human  race,  in  the  most  astonishing  and  amiable  light, 
he  was,  in  his  turn,  to  receive  honor  from  his  Father ;  inti- 
mating that  his  human  nature  was  to  be  exalted  to  the  right 
hand  of  Omnipotence,  and  that  his  mission  from  God  was 
to  be  supported  by  irrefragable  attestations. 

But  his  disciples,  imagining  that  he  spake  of  the  glory  of 
a  temporal  kingdom,  their  ambition  was  again  revived,  and 
they  began  to  dispute,  with  as  much  keenness  as  ever,  which 
of  them  should  be  greatest  in  that  kingdom.  This  conten- 
tion Jesus  suppressed  by  the  arguments  he  had  formerly 
used  for  the  same  purpose.  Among  the  Gentiles,  said  he, 
they  are  reckoned  the  greatest,  who  have  the  greatest  power, 
and  have  exercised  it  in  the  most  absolute  manner ;  but  your 
greatness  shall  be  very  different  from  theirs ;  it  shall  not 
consist  in  being  unlimited  with  regard  to  tyrannical  power, 
even  though  it  should  be  joined  with  an  affection  of  titles, 
which  denote  qualities  truly  honorable ;  but  whosoever  desires 
to  be  great,  or  chief  among  you,  let  him  be  so  by  his  humil- 
ity, and  the  service  he  renders  to  the  rest,  in  imitation  of  me, 
your  Master,  whose  greatness  consists  in  this,  that  I  am 
become  the  servant  of  you  all.  Adding,  that  as  they  had 
continued  with  him  in  this  temptation,  he  would  bestow 
upon  them  such  a  kingdom  as  his  Father  had  appointed  for 
him. 

At  the  same  time,  to  check  their  ambition,  and  lead  them 
to  form  a  just  notion  of  his  kingdom,  he  told  them  that  he 
was  soon  to  leave  them,  and  that  whither  he  was  going  they 
could  not  at  that  time  follow  him ;  for  which  reason,  instead 
of  contending  with  one  another,  which  of  them  should  be 
the  greatest,  they  would  do  well  to  be  united  among  them- 
selves in  the  happy  bond  of  love.  For  by  loving  one  another 
sincerely  and  fervently,  they  would  prove  themselves  his  dis- 
ciples, to  the  conviction  of  mankind,  who  could  not  be  igno- 
rant that  love  was  a  distinguishing  part  of  his  character. 


CHRIST.  237 

This  excellent  doctrine,  however,  did  not  make  such  an 
impression  on  Peter  as  the  words  which  Jesus  had  spoken 
concerning  a  place  whither  his  disciples  could  n»t  come. 

He  therefore  replied  by  asking  where  he  was  going ;  to 
which  Jesus  answered,  "  Whither  I  go,  thou  canst  not  follow 
me  now ;  but  thou  shalt  follow  me  afterward."  Further,  in 
order  to  make  his  disciples  humble,  watchful,  and  kindly 
affectionate  one  toward  another,  he  assured  them  that  Satan 
was  seeking  to  ruin  them  all  by  his  temptations.  "And  the 
Lord  said,  Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  hath  desired  to  have 
you,  that  he  might  sift  you  as  wheat :  but  I  have  prayed  for 
thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not ;  and  when  thou  art  converted, 
strengthen  thy  brethren," 

Peter  was  greatly  offended,  that  his  Master  should  have 
singled  him  out  as  the  weakest ;  for  so  he  interpreted  his 
praying  for  him  particularly ;  and  supposing  that  he  men- 
tioned Satan's  seeking  to  sift  hira,  as  the  thing  that  would 
prevent  him  from  following  his  Master,  replied,  "  AVhy  can 
not  I  follow  thee  now  ?  Is  there  any  road  more  terrible 
than  the  dark  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  ?  Yet  through 
these  black  and  gloomy  shades  I  am  willing  this  moment  to 
accompany  thee."  Jesus,  knowing  his  weak,  though  sincere 
resolution,  answered,  "Art  thou  so  very  confident  of  thine 
own  strength?  I  tell  thee  that  this  very  night,  before  the 
cock  crows,  thou  wilt  thrice  deny  me  to  be  thy  Master," 

Our  blessed  Saviour,  having  finished  what  he  had  to  say 
to  Peter  in  particular,  turned  himself  to  his  other  disciples, 
and  put  them  in  mind  that,  when  Jhey  were  first  sent  out,  he 
directed  them  to  rely  wholly  upon  the  Almighty  for  assist- 
ance. "  When  I  sent  you  formerly,"  said  he,  "  to  preach  the 
gospel,  you  may  remember  I  ordered  you  to  go  without  any 
provision,  either  for  your  sustenance  or  defense,  assuring 
you,  that  though  you  would  indeed  meet  with  great  opposi- 
tion, yet  Providence  would  dispose  some  men,  in  all  places, 
to  be  your  friends,  and  to  furnish  you  with  all  necessaries ; 
and  accordingly  you  found  that  you  wanted  for  nothing,  but 
were  wonderfully  supported,  without  any  care  or  provision 
of  your  own,  in  the  whole  journey,  and  finished  your  work 


238  CHRIST. 

with  success.  But  now  the  case  is  very  different ;  the  time 
of  the  greatest  trial  and  distress,  whereof  I  have  often  fore- 
warned you^s  just  at  hand ;  and  you  may  now  make  all  the 
provision  in  your  power,  and  arm  yourselves  against  it  as 
much  as  you  are  able.  I  have  finished  the  work  for  which  I 
came  into  the  world ;  and  nothing  now  remains  for  me  but 
to  undergo  those  sufferings  which  the  prophets  have  foretold 
concerning  me,  and  to  complete  this  whole  dispensation  of 
Providence,  by  submitting  at  last  to  a  cruel  and  ignominious 
death." 

The  disciples,  thinking  their  great  Master  meant  that  they 
should  arm  themselves  in  a  literal  sense,  and  endeavor  to 
oppose  the  assaults  that  would  shortly  be  made  upon  them 
by  the  Jews,  answered,  "  Lord,  here  are  two  swords." 

But  the  blessed  Jesus,  who  only  intended  to  convey  an 
idea  of  their  approaching  distress  and  temptations,  and  to 
arm  them  against  the  surprise,  replied,  "  It  is  enough."  You 
need  not  trouble  yourselves  about  any  more  weapons  of  this 
nature  for  your  defense.  "  Be  not  terrified  and  disconsolate," 
added  the  compassionate  Jesus,  "  because  I  have  told  you 
that  I  must  undergo  great  sufferings,  and  be  taken  away 
from  you  for  a  time.  You  have  always  been  taught  to  believe 
in  God,  who  is  the  Almighty  Preserver  and  Governor  of  all 
things ;  and  to  rely  on  him  for  deliverance  in  every  affliction 
and  distress.  Learn  now  in  like  manner  to  believe  in  me, 
who  have  all  power  committed  to  me,  as  the  preserver  and 
head  of  my  church ;  and  trust  in  me  to  accomplish  fully  all 
things  that  I  have  promised  you.  If  you  do  this,  and  persist 
steadfastly  in  the  belief  of  my  doctrine,  and  in  obedience  of 
my  commands,  nothing  in  this  vale  of  misery,  not  even  per- 
secution or  death  itself,  shall  be  able  to  hinder  you  from 
attaining  the  happiness  I  have  proposed  to  you.  For  in 
heaven,  my  Father's  house,  there  is  abundant  room  to  receive 
you ;  otherwise  I  would  not  have  filled  your  minds  with  the 
hopes  and  expectation  of  happiness.  But  as  there  are  man- 
sions sufficient  for  you  in  another  state,  you  may  with  confi- 
dence anJ  assurance  hope  for  the  full  accomplishment  of  my 
promises,  notwithstanding  all  this  present  world  may  contrive 


CHRIST.  239 

or  act  against  you.  And  you  also  ought  to  bear  patiently 
my  departure  from  you  at  this  time,  since  I  only  leave  you 
to  prepare  a  place,  and  open  the  portals  of  the  eternal  hab- 
itations where  I  shall  be  ever  with  you.  When  I  have  pre- 
pared a  place  for  you  in  that  eternal  state,  I  will  again  return, 
and  take  you  to  myself.  Nor  shall  you  ever  more  be  sepa- 
rated from  me,  but  continue  with  me  to  all  eternity,  in  full 
participation  of  my  eternal  glory  and  happiness,  in  the  bliss- 
ful regions  of  the  heavenly  Canaan.  You  must  now  surely 
know  whither  I  am  going,  and  the  way  that  leads  to  these 
happy  seats  of  immortality." 

But  the  disciples,  whose  minds  were  not  yet  fully  weaned 
from  the  expectation  of  a  temporal  pOwer  and  glory,  did  not 
understand  this  discourse  of  their  great  and  beloved  Master. 
Accordingly  Thomas  replied,  "  Lord,  we  can  not  comprehend 
whither  thou  art  going ;  and  therefore  must  needs  be  ignorant 
of  the  way." 

To  which  our  blessed  Jesus  answered,  "  I  myself,  as  I  have 
often  told  you,  am  the  true  and  only  way  to  life ;  nor  can 
any  man"  go  thither  by  any  other  way.  If  ye  say  ye  do  not 
know  the  Father,  I  tell  you  that  no  man  who  knoweth  me, 
can  be  ignorant  of  my  Father,  of  his  will,  and  the  manner 
of  pleasing  him :  if  ye  know  me,  ye  must  know  all  my 
actions-  have  been  directed  by  the  will  of  the  Father,  and  for 
the  glory  of  his  name." 

These  and  many  other  words  of  consolation  having  been 
spoken,  they  finished  the  passover  with  singing  a  hymn,  and 
went  out  to  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

On  their  arrival  at  the  place  which  was  to  be  the  scene  of 
his  sufferings,  he  desired  them  to  fortify  themselves  by 
prayer,  and  forewarned  them  of  the  terrible  effect  his  suffer- 
ings would  have  ilpon  them :  they  would  make  them  all 
stumble  that  very  night,  agreeably  to  the  prophecy  of  Zech- 
ariah :  "  I  will  smite  the  shepherd,  and  the  sheep  of  the  flock 
shall  be  scattered  abroad." 

To  strengthen  their  faith,  therefore,  he  not  only  mentioned 
his  resurrection,  but  told  them  they  should  see  him  in  Galilee 
after  he  was  risen  from  the  dead. 


240  CHRIST. 

On  the  Saviour's  mentioning  tlie  offense  that  his  disciples 
would  take  at  his  suffering,  Peter  recollected  what  had  been 
said  to  him  in  particular  before  they  left  the  house.  Grieved, 
therefore,  afresh,  to  find  his  Master  entertain  such  thoughts 
of  him,  and  being  now  armed  with  a  sword,  the  vehemence 
of  his  temper  urged  him  to  boast  a  second  time  of  his  coura- 
geous and  close  attachment  to  his  Master.  "Though  all 
men,"  said  he,  "  should  be  offended  because  of  thee,  yet  I 
will  never  be  offended."  But  Jesus  knowing  that  human 
confidence  and  security  were  weak  and  frail,  thought  proper 
to  forewarn  him  of  his  danger  again,  and  told  him  that  the 
cock  should  not  crow  before  he  had  denied  him.  Peter,  how- 
ever, still  continued  to  "repeat  his  confidence:  "I  will  die 
with  thee,  but  never  deny  thee."  The  disciples  all  joined 
with  Peter  in  professing  their  fixed  resolution  of  suffering 
death  rather  than  they  would  deny  their  Master;  but  the 
event  fully  confirmed  the  prediction  of  our  Saviour.  From 
whence  we  may  learn  how  ignorant  men  are  of  their  own 
hearts,  and  that  the  strongest  resolutions  in  their  own  strength 
avail  nothing. 

The  compassionate  Redeemer  of  mankind,  not  willing  to 
lose  one  single  moment  of  the  short  time  of  his  ministry  that 
yet  remained,  continued  to  instruct  his  disciples  in  the  great 
truths  he  came  into  the  world  to  explain  ;  and  from  the  vines 
which  were  growing  round  him  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  he 
began  his  excellent  discourse  with  the  parable  of  the  vine,  to 
the  following  import :  "  Hitherto,"  said  the  blessed  Jesus, 
"  the  Jewish  church  and  nation  have  been  the  peculiar  care 
of  Providence ;  as  a  choice  and  goodly  vine,  likely  to  bring 
forth  much  fruit,  is  the  special  care  of  the  husbandman. 
But  from  henceforth,  my  church,  my  disciples,  and  the  pro- 
fessors of  my  religion,  of  what  country  or  nation  soever  they 
be,  shall  become  the  people  of  God,  and  the  peculiar  care  of 
Divine  Providence.  I  will  be  to  them  as  the  root  and  stock 
of  a  vine,  of  which  they  are  the  branches,  and  my  Father 
the  husbandman,  or  vine-dresser." 

With  many  similar  words  he  continued  his  discourse,  and 
having  finished,  he  "lifted  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  prayed" 


Kiy//f€m, 


'//( 7/:  ,(/ 


KarkXC^-^o, 


1 


CHRIST.  241 

with  great  fervency  that  prayer  recorded  in  the  seventeenth 
chapter  of  John. 

This  pious  and  benevolent  prayer  being  ended,  Jesus  and 
his  disciples  came  down  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  into  a 
field  below,  called  Gethsemane,  through  which  the  brook 
Cedron  ran,  and  in  it,  on  the  other  side  of  the  brook,  was  a 
garden,  called  the  garden  of  Gethsemane.  Here  he  desired 
his  disciples  to  sit  down,  till  he  should  retire  to  pray,  taking 
with  him  Peter,  James,  and  John,  those  three  select  disciples 
whom  he  had  before  chosen  to  be  witnesses  of  his  transfigu- 
ration, and  now  to  be  eye-witnesses  of  his  passion,  leaving 
the  other  disciples  at  the  garden  door,  to  watch  the  approach 
of  Judas  and  his  band.  The  sufferings  he  was  on  the  point 
of  undergoing  were  so  great,  that  the  very  prospect  of  them 
excited  this  doleful  exclamation,  "  My  soul  is  exceeding  sor- 
rowful, even  unto  death ;  tarry  ye  here,  and  watch."  On 
this  great  occasion  he  sustained  those  grievous  sorrows  in  his 
soul,  by  wbich,  as  well  as  by  dying  on  the  cross,  he  became 
a  sin-offering,  and  accomplished  the  redemjDtion  of  mankind. 

He  now  withdrew  from  them  about  a  stone's  cast,  and  his 
human  nature  being  now  overwhelmed  beyond  measure,  he 
found  it  necessary  to  retire  and  pray  that,  if  it  were  possible, 
or  consistent  with  the  salvation  of  the  wol'ld,  he  might  be 
delivered  from  the  sufferings  which  were  then  lying  on  bim. 
It  was  not  the  fear  of  dying  on  the  cross  which  made  him 
speak  or  pray  in  such  a  manner.  To  suppose  this,  would 
infinitely  degrade  his  character.  Make  his  suffei'ings  as  ter- 
rible as  possible,  clothe  them  with  all  the  aggravating  circum- 
stances of  distress,  yet  the  blessed  Jesus,  whose  human  nature 
was  strengthened  by  being  connected  with  the  divine,  could 
not  but  shrink  at  the  prospect  of  such  sufferings  as  he  had 
to  endure. 

He  addressed  his  divine  Father  with  a  sigh  of  fervent 

wishes  that  the  cup  might,  if  possible,  be  removed  from  him ; 

(in  the  Greek,  it  is,  "  O  that  thou  wouldst  remove  this  cup 

from  me;")   and  having  first  kneeled  and  prayed,  he  fell 

prostrate  on  his  face,  accompanying  his  address  with  due 

expressions  of  resignation,  adding  immediately,  "Not  as  I 

16 


242  CHRIST. 

Avill,  but  as  thou  wilt,"  Having  prayed,  he  returned  to  hia 
disciples,  and  finding  tliem  asleep,  he  said  to  Peter,  "  Simon, 
sleepest  thou  ?  Couldst  thou  not  watch  one  hour  ?"  Thou 
who  didst  so  lately  boast  of  thy  courage  and  constancy  in  my 
service,  canst  thou  so  soon  forget  thy  Master  ?  But  in  this 
great  distress  he  never  lost  sight  of  that  kind  concern  he  had 
for  his  disciples.  ""Watch  ye,"  he  says,  "and  pray,  lest  ye 
enter  into  temptation."  Neither  was  he  on  these  extraordi- 
nary occasions  in  the  least  chagrined  with  the  offenses  they 
had  committed  through  frailty  and  human  weakness ;  on  the 
contrary,  he  was  always  willing  to  make  excuses  for  them, 
alledging,  in  their  defense,  that  the  spirit  truly  was  willing, 
but  the  flesh  was  weak. 

It  seems  from  these  particulars  that  he  spent  some  consid- 
erable time  in  his  addresses ;  because  his  disciples  fell  asleep 
in  his  absence,  and  he  himself  retired  again  to  pray ;  for  the 
sorrows  of  our  Lord  continuing  to  increase  upon  him,  affected 
him  to  such  a  degree  that  he  retired  a  second  time,  and  prayed 
to  the  same  purpose,  saying,  "  Oh,  my  Father,  if  this  cup 
may  not  pass  away  from  me,  except  I  drink  it,  thy  will  be 
done."  After  which  he  returned  again  to  them,  and  found 
them  asleep  ;  for  their  eyes  were  heavy. 

He  returned  thus  frequently  to  his  disciples,  that  they,  by 
reading  his  distress  in  his  countenance  and  gesture,  might  be 
witnesses  of  his  passion,  which  proves  that  his  pains  were 
beyond  description  intense  and  complicated;  for  he  went 
away  the  third  time  to  pray,  and  notwithstanding  an  angel 
was  sent  from  heaven  to  comfort  and  strengthen  him,  yet 
they  overwhelmed  him,  and  threw  him  into  an  agony ;  upon 
which  he  still  continued  to  pray  more  earnestly.  But  the 
sense  of  his  sufferings  still  increasing,  they  strained  his  whole 
body  to  so  violent  a  degree,  that  his  blood,  as  it  were,  was 
pressed  through  the  pores  of  his  skin,  which  it  pervaded, 
together  with  his  sweat,  and  fell  down  in  large  drops  to  the 
ground.     And  he  left  them,  and  went  away  again. 

Thus  did  he  suffer  unspeakable  sorrows  in  his  soul,  as  long 
as  the  divine  wisdom  thought  proper.  At  length  he  obtained 
relief,  being  heard  on  account  of  his  perfect  and  entire  sub- 


CHE  I  ST. 


243 


mission  to  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father.  "And  when  he 
rose  up  from  prayer,  and  was  come  to  his  disciples,  he  found 
them  sleeping  for  sorrow." 

This  circumstance  shows  how  much  the  disciples  were 
affected  with  their  Master's  sufferings. 

The  sensations  of  grief  "wTiich  they  felt  on  seeing  his 
'unsjoeakable  distress,  so  overpowered  them  that  they  sunk 
into  a  sleep.  Our  blessed  Saviour  for  the  last  time  came  to 
his  disciples,  and  seeing  them  still  asleep,  he  said,  "  Sleep  on 
now,  and  take  j^our  rest :  behold,  the  hour  is  at  hand,  and 
the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  sinners.  Eise, 
let  us  be  going ;  behold,  he  is  at  hand  that  doth  betray  me." 
The  event  will  soon  be  over,  which  causes  your  sorrow ;  I 
am  betrayed,  and  ready  to  be  delivered  unto  death. 


CHAPTER  XL 

TAKEN  BY  A  BAND  OF  SOLDIERS;    HEALS  THE  WOUND  OF  MALCHUS:    THE 
HIGH  PRIEST;    CONSIGNED  TO  THE  BAR  OF  THE  SANHEDRIM; 
■     CARRIED  BEFORE  THE  ROJIAN  GOVERNOR;    PILATE 
PUBLIC-LY  ACQUITS  HUT. 

^UDAS,  who  jhad  often  resorted  to  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane  with  the  disciples  of  our  Lord,  know- 
ing the  spot,  and  the  usual  time  of  his  Master's 
repairing  thither,  informed  the  chief  priests  and 
elders  that  the  proper  time  for  apprehending  Jesus 
was  now  come. 

They  therefore  sent  a  band  of  soldiers  with  him,  and  ser- 
vants carrying  lanterns  and  torches  to  show  them  the  way  ; 
because,  though  it  was  always  full  moon  at  the  passover,  the 
sky  might  be  dark  with  clouds,  and  the  place  whither  they 
were  going  was  shaded  with  trees.  At  the  same  time,  a  dep- 
utation of  their  number  accompanied  the  band,  to  see  that 
every  one  did  his  duty.  Judas  having  thus  received  a  band 
of  men  and  officers  from  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees,  they 
went  thither  with  lanterns,  and  torches,  and  weapons,  for 


244 


CHEIST. 


they  were  exceedingly  anxious  to  secure  and  get  him  into 
their  hands;  and  the  soldiers  having  perhaps  never  seen 
Jesus  before,  found  it  necessary  that  Judas  should  distin- 
guish him,  and  point  him  out  to  them  by  some  particular 
siffn.  The  treacherous  Judas  went  before  the  band  at  a  small 
distance,  to  prepare  them  for  the  readier  execution  of  their 
office,  by  kissing  his  Master,  which  was  the  token  agreed* 
upon,  that  they  might  not  mistake  him,  a'nd  seize  upon  the 
wrong  person. 

Stung  with  remorse  at  the  horrid  engagement  into  which 
he  had  entered,  and  not  being  now  able  to  retreat  from  the 
execution  of  it,  he  determined  to  make  use  of  art  in  his  vile 
proceedings,  and  weakly  imagined  he  could  deceive  him 
whom  he  was  about  to  betray,  on  a  supposition  that  when  he 
should  give  the  kiss,' it  might  be  considered  by  his  Master  as 
a  singular  mark  of  his  affection.  When,  therefore,  they 
approached  near  the  spot,  Judas,  (who  was  at  the  head  of  the 
baud,)  suddenly  ran  forward,  and  coming  up  to  Jesus,  said, 
"  Hail,  Master !  and  kissed  him.  And  Jesus  said  unto  him. 
Friend,  wherefore  art  thou  come  ?  Betrayest  thou  the  Son 
of  Man  with  a  kiss  ?"  Before,  however,  Judas  could  make 
any  reply,  the  band,  (who  had  fixed  their  eyes  on  the  person 
he  had  kissed,)  arrived  immediately,  and  surrounded  Jesus. 

The  artifice  and  wicked  designs  of  the  base  and  perfidious 
Judas  are  here  manifestly  displayed.  In  order  to  conceal  his 
villainy  from  his  Master  and  his  disciples,  he  walked  hastily, 
and,  without  waiting  for  the  band,  went  up  directly  and 
saluted  him,  wishing  perhaps  to  have  that  considered  as  a 
token  of  apprising  him  of  danger.  But  Jesus  did  not  fail  to 
convince  him  that  he  knew  the  meaning  and  intent  of  his 
salutation,  saying,  "  Betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  Man  with  a 
kiss?" 

Judas  certainly  concealed  his  treachery  so  well  that  Peter 
did  not  suspect  him,  as  it  is  probable  he  would  have  struck 
at  him  rather  than  at  Malchus,  the  high  priest's  servant. 

The  appointed  time  of  our  Lord's  sufferings  being  now 
come,  he  did  not,  as  formerly,  avoid  his  enemies ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  on  their  telling  him  they  sought  Jesus  of  Nazareth, 


CHRIST.  2-15 

he  replied,  "  I  am  he ;"  thereby  intimating  to  them  that  he 
was  willing  to  put  himself  into  their  hands.  At  the  same 
time,  to  show  them  that  thej  could  not  apprehend  him  with- 
out his  own  consent,  he  in  an  extraordinary  manner  exerted 
his  divine  power ;  he  made  the  whole  band  foil  back,  and 
threw  them  on  the  ground.  But  the  soldiers  and  the  Jews, 
imagining  perhaps  that  they  had  been  thrown  down  by  some 
demon  or  evil  spirit,  with  whom  the  Jews  said  he  was  in 
confederacy,  advanced  toward  him  a  second  time.  "  Then 
asked  he  them  again,  Whom  seek  ye  ?  And  they  said,  Jesus 
of  Nazareth.  Jesus  answered,  I  have  told  you  that  I  am  he," 
expressing  again  his  willingness  to  fall  into  their  hands,  "If, 
therefore,  ye  seek  me,  let  these  go  their  way."  If  your  busi- 
ness be  with  me  alone,  suffer  my  disciples  to  pass ;  for  the 
party  had  surrounded  them  also.  He  seems  to  have  made 
this  request  to  the  soldiers,  that  the  saying  might  be  fulfilled 
which  he  spake,  "  Of  them  which  thou  gavest  me,  I  have 
lost  none."  For  as  he  always  proportioned  the  trials  of  his 
people  to  their  strength,  so  here  he  took  care  that  the  disci- 
ples should  escape  the  storm  which  none  but  himself  could 
sustain. 

At  length,  one  of  the  soldiers,  more  daring  than  the  rest, 
rudely  caught  Jesus,  and  bound  him;  upon  which  Peter 
drew  his  sword,  and  smote  off  the  ear  of  the  high  priest's 
servant,  who  probably  was  showing  greater  forwardness  than 
the  rest  in  this  business.  The  enraged  disciple  was  on  the 
point  of  singly  attacking  the  whole  band,  when  Jesus  ordered 
him  to  sheathe  the  sword  ;  telling  him  that  his  unreasonable 
and  imprudent  defense  might  prove  the  occasion  of  his  de- 
struction. He  told  him  likewise  that  it  implied  both  a  dis- 
trust of  God,  who  can  always  employ  a  variety  of  means  for 
the  safety  of  his  people,  and  also  his  ignorance  in  the  Scrip 
tures.  "  Thinkest  thou,"  said  he,  "  that  I  can  not  now  pray 
to  my  Father,  and  he  shall  presently  give  me  more  than 
twelve  legions  of  angels  ?  But  how  then  shall  the  Scriptures 
be  fulfilled,  that  thus  it  must  be  ?"  The  word  legion  was  a 
Eoman  military  term,  being  a  name  which  they  gave  to  a 
body  of  five  or  six  thousand  men ;  wherefore,  in  regard  that 


246  CHRIST. 

tlie  band  wliicli  now  surrounded  them  was  a  Eoman  cohort, 
our  Lord  miglit  make  use  of  this  term  by  way  of  contrast, 
to  show  what  an  inconsiderable  thing  a  cohort  was,  in  com- 
parison of  the  force  he  could  summon  to  his  assistance ;  more 
than  tweive  legions  of  angels,  instead  of  soldiers.  He  yet 
was  tenderly  inclined  to  prevent  any  bad  consequences  which 
might  have  followed  from  Peter's  rashness,  by  healing  the 
servant,  and  adding,  in  his  rebuke  to  him,  a  declaration  of 
his  willingness  to  suffer :  "  The  cup  which  my  Father  hath 
given  me,  shall  I  not  drink  it  ?" 

The  circumstance  of  his  healing  the  ear  of  Malchus  by 
touching  it,  evidently  implies  that  no  wound  or  distemper 
was  incurable  in  the  hand  of  Jesus  ;  neither  was  any  injury 
so  great  that  he  could  not  forgive. 

It  seems  somewhat  surprising  that  this  evident  miracle  did 
not  make  an  impression  upon  the  chief  priests,  especially  as 
our  Lord  put  them  in  mind,  at  the  same  time,  of  his  other 
miracles  ;  for  having  first  said,  "Suffer  ye  thus  far,  he  touched 
his  ear,  and  healed  him;"  adding,  "  Be  ye  come  out,  as  against 
a  thief,  with  swords  and  staves  ?" 

The  priests  had  kept  at  a  distance  for  some  time,  but  drew 
near  when  they  understood  that  Jesus  was  in  their  power ; 
for  they  were  proof  against  all  conviction,  being  obstinately 
bent  on  putting  him  to  death.  And  the  disciples,  when  they 
saw  their  Master  in  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  forsook  him, 
and  fled,  according  to  his  prediction ;  notwithstanding  they 
might  have  followed  him  without  any  danger,  as  the  priests 
had  no  design  against  them.  "  Then  the  band,  and  the  cap- 
tain and  officers  took  Jesus,  and  bound  him."  But  it  was  not 
the  cord  which  held  him ;  his  infinite  love  was  by  far  the 
strongest  bond.  He  could  have  broken  those  weak  ties,  and 
exerted  his  divinity  in  a  more  wonderful  manner :  he  could 
have  stricken  them  all  dead,  with  as  much  ease  as  he  had 
before  thrown  them  on  the  ground  ;  but  he  patiently  submit- 
ted to  this,  as  to  every  other  indignity  which  they  chose  to 
offer  him,  so  meek  was  he  under  the  greatest  injuries. 

Having  thus  secured  him,  they  led  him  away,  first  to 
Annas,  father-in-law  of  Caiaphas,  who  was  high  priest  that 


CHRIST.  24-7 

year.  Annas  having  Limself  discharged  the  office  of  high 
priest,  was  consequently  a  person  of  distinguished  character, 
which,  together  with  his  relation  to  the  high  priest,  made  him 
worthy  of  the  respect  they  now  paid  him.  But  he  refused 
singly  to  meddle  in  the  affair ;  they  therefore  carried  Jesus 
to  Caiaphas  himself,  at  whose  palace  the  chief  priests,  elders, 
and  scribes  were  assembled ;  having  staid  there  all  night,  to 
see  the  issue  of  their  stratagem. 

This  Caiaphas  was  he  that  advised  the  council  to  put  Jesus 
to  death,  even  admitting  that  he  was  innocent,  for  the  safety 
of  the  whole  Jewish  nation.  He  seems  to  have  enjoyed  the 
sacerdotal  dignity  during  the  whole  course  of  Pilate's  gov- 
ernment in  Judea ;  for  he  was  advanced  by  Valerius  Grac- 
chus, Pilate's  predecessor,  and  was  divested  of  it  by  Vitellius, 
governor  of  Syria,  after  he  had  deposed  Pilate  from  his  pro- 
curatorship.  * 

An  examination  was  commenced  by  the  high  priest  asking 
Jesus  of  his  disciples  and  his  doctrine.  He  inquired  of  him 
what  his  disciples  were ;  for  what  end  he  had  gathered  them ; 
whether  it  was  to  make  himself  a  king ;  and  what  the  doc- 
trine was  which  he  taught  them.  In  these  questions  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  art ;  for  as  the  crime  laid  to  our  Saviour's 
charge  was  that  he  had  set  up  for  the  Messiah,  and  deluded 
the  people,  they  expected  he  would  claim  that  dignity  in 
their  presence,  and  so  would,  on  his  own  confession,  have 
condemned  him  without  any  further  process. 

This  was  unfair,  as  it  was  artful  and  ensnaring.  To  oblige 
a  prisoner  on  his  trial  to  confess  what  might  take  away  his 
life,  was  a  very  inequitable  method  of  proceeding,  and  Jesus 
expressed  his  opinion  thereof  with  very  good  reason,  and 
complained  of  it,  bidding  them  prove  what  they  had  laid  to 
his  charge  by  witnesses.  It  was  greatly  to  the  honor  of  our 
blessed  Redeemer,  that  .all  his  actions  were  done  in  public, 
under  the  eye  even  of  his  enemies ;  because,  had  he  been 
carrying  on  any  imposture,  the  lovers  of  goodness  and  truth 
had  thus  abundant  opportunities  of  detecting  him  with  pro- 
priety ;  he  therefore,  in  his  defense,  appealed  to  that  part  of 
his  character,  but  his  answer  was  construed  to  be  disrespectful; 


248  CHEIST. 

for,  "  when  lie  had  thus  spoken,  one  of  the  officers  which 
stood  by  struck  Jesus  with  the  palm  of  his  hand,  saying, 
Answerest  thou  the  high  priest  so  ?"  To  which  he  meekly 
replied,  with  the  greatest  serenity,  "If  I  have  spoken  evil, 
bear  witness  of  the  evil ;  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  me?" 
Show  me — prove  before  this  court  wherein  my  crime  con- 
sists, or  record  it  in  the  evidence  on  the  face  of  my  trial ; 
which,  if  you  can  not,  how  can  you  answer  for  this  inhuman 
treatment  to  a  defenseless  prisoner,  standing  on  his  trial 
before  the  world,  and  in  open  court  ?  Thus  Jesus  became 
an  example  of  his  own  precept :  "And  if  a  man  smite  thee 
on  the  right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  left  also ;"  bearing  the 
greatest  injuries  with  a  patience  that  could  not  be  provoked. 
When  the  council  found  that  Jesus  declined  answering  the 
questions  whereby  they  expected  to  have  drawn  from  him  an 
acknowledgment  of  his  being  the  Messiah,  they  "proceeded  to 
examine  many  witnesses,  to  prove  his  having  assumed  that 
character ;  as  they  considered  such  a  pretension  as  blasphemy 
in  his  mouth,  who,  being  only  a  man,  according  to  their 
opinion,  could  not,  without  the  highest  affront  to  the  Divine 
Majesty,  pretend  to  the  title  of  the  Son  of  God,  as  it  belonged 
to  the  Messiah.  But  in  this  examination  they  acted  like 
interested  and  enraged  persecutors,  rather  than  impartial 
judges,  forming  their  questions  in  the  most  artful  manner,  in 
order,  if  possible,  to  draw  expressions  from  him  which  they 
might  pervert  into  suspicions  of  guilt,  as  some  foundation  for 
condemning  Jesus,  who  had  so  long  and  faithfully  labored 
for  their  salvation. 

Their,  witnesses,  however,  disappointed  them;  some  of 
them  disagreeing  in  their  story,  and  others  mentioning  things 
of  no  manner  of  importance.  At  last,  two  persons  agreed 
in  their  depositions — namely,  in  hearing  him  say  that  he  was 
able  to  destroy  the  temple  of  God,  and  to  raise  it  in  three 
days. 

But  this- testimony  was  absolutely  false ;  for  he  never  said 
he  could  destroy  and  build  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  in  three 
days,  as  they  affirmed. 

It  is  true,  after  banishing  the  traders  from  the  temple, 


CHRIST.  249 

wlien  the  Jews  desired  to  know  by  what  authority  he  under- 
took to  make  such  a  reformation,  he  referred  them  to  the 
miracle  of  his  resurrection;  bidding  them  "destroy  this  tem- 
ple, (pointing  probably  to  his  body,)  and  in  three  days  he 
would  raise  it  up."  The  witnesses,  therefore,  either  through 
malice  or  ignorance,  perverted  his  answer  into  an  affirmation 
that  he  was  able  to  destroy  and  build  the  magnificent  temple 
of  Jerusalem  in  three  days ;  and  the  judges  considered  this 
assertion  as  blasphemy,  because  it  could  only  be  done  by  the 
divine  power. 

Our  Saviour  made  no  reply  to  the  evidence  that  was  pro- 
duced against  him,  which  greatly  provoked  the  high  priest, 
wHo,  supposing  that  he  intended  by  his  silence  to  put  an 
affront  on  the  council,  rose  from  his  seat,  and  with  great  per- 
turbation demanded  the  reason  for  such  remarkable  conduct. 
"Answerest  thou  nothing?"  said  he;  "behold,  how  many 
things  they  witness  against  thee."  And  several  of  the  coun- 
cil added,  "*Art  thou  the  Christ?"  To  which  our  blessed 
Saviour  answered.  If  I  should  tell  you  plainly,  ye  would  not 
believe  me;  and  if  I  should  demonstrate  it  to  you  by  the 
most  evident  and  undeniable  arguments,  ye  would  neither  be 
convinced,  nor  let  me  go. 

The  high  priest,  finding  all  his  attempts  to  trepan  our 
Saviour  in  vain,  said  to  him,  I  adjure  you  solemnly,  by  the 
dreadful  and  tremendous  name  of  God,  in  whose  presence 
you  stand,  that  you  tell  us  plainly  and  truly  whether  you  are 
the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God. 

The  consequence  attending  his  confession  of  the  truth  did 
not  intimidate  the  blessed  Jesus ;  for,  being  adjured  by  the 
chief  magistrate,  he  immediately  acknowledged  the  charge ; 
adding,  ye  shall  shortly  see  a  convincing  evidence  of  this 
truth,  in  that  wonderful  and  unparalleled  destruction  which 
I  will  send  upon  the  Jewish  nation ;  in  the  quick  and  power- 
ful progress  which  the  gospel  shall  make  upon  the  earth ; 
and,  finally,  in  my  glorious  appearance  in  the  clouds  of 
heaven  at  the  last  day,  the  sign  you  have  so  often  demanded 
in  confirmation  of  my  mission. 

Upon  our  blessed  Saviour's  making  this  answer,  a  number 


250  CHRIST. 

of  them  cried  out  at  once,  "Art  thou  the  Son  of  God  ?"  To 
which  he  replied,  "  Ye  say  that  I  am ;"  a  manner  of  speaking 
among  the  Jews,  which  expressed  a  plain  and  strong  affirma- 
tion of  the  thing  expressed. 

When  the  high  priest  heard  this  second  assertion,  he  rent 
his  clothes  with  great  indignation,  and  said  unto  the  council. 
Why  need  we  trouble  ourselves  to  seek  for  any  more  witness- 
es ?  Ye  yourselves — nay,  this  whole  assembly,  are  witnesses 
that  he  hath  spoken  manifest  and  notorious  blasphemy  ;  what 
think  ye  ?  To  which  they  all  replied,  that,  for  assuming  the 
character  of  the  Messiah,  he  deserved  to  be  put  to  death. 

Then  began  the  servants  and  common  people  to  fall  upon 
him  as  a  man  already  condemned ;  spitting  upon  him,  buffet- 
ing him,  and  offering  him  all  manner  of  rudeness  and  indig- 
nities. They  blindfolded  him,  and  some  of  the  council,  in 
order  to  ridicule  him  for  having  professed  to  be  the  great 
Prophet,  bid  him  exercise  his  prophetical  gift,^in  declaring 
who  had  smitten  him.  Such  was  the  treatment  of  the  Son 
of  God,  the  Saviour  of  dinners,  which,  though  derogatory  to 
his  character,  he  bore  with  patience  and  resignation,  leaving 
his  people  an  example  to  follow  in  his  steps,  and  submit  to 
the  will  of  God  in  all  things,  without  murmuring  at  any  of 
the  dispensations  of  his  providence. 

Being  thus  condemned  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the 
grand  assembly,  it  was  resolved  to  carry  the  blessed  Jesus 
before  the  governor,  that  he  likewise  might  pass  sentence 
upon  him.  The  Eoman  governors  of  Judea  generally  resided 
at  Csesaroa ;  but  at  the  great  feasts  they  came  up  to  Jerusa- 
lem, to  prevent  or  suppress  tumults,  and  to  administer  justice, 
— it  being  a  custom  for  the  Eoman  governors  of  provinces 
to  visit  the  principal  towns  under  their  jurisdiction,  on  this 
latter  account.  Pilate,  being  accordingly  come  to  Jerusalem 
some  time  before  the  feast,  had  been  informed  of  the  great 
ferment  among  the  rulers,  and  the  true  character  of  the  per- 
son on  whose  account  it  was  raised  ;  for  he  entertained  a  just 
notion  of  it.  "He  knew  that  for  envy  they  had  delivered 
him." 

He  knew  the  cause  of  their  envy,  was  impressed  with  a 


CHRIST.  251 

favorable  opinion  of  Jesus,  and  wished,  if  possible,  to  deliver 
him  from  his  vile  persecutors. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  Jewish  council  brought  Jesus  to 
the  hall  of  judgment,  or  governor's  palace.  They  themselves, 
however,  went  not  into  the  hall,  but  stood  without,  lest  they 
should  be  defiled,  and  rendered  incapable  of  eating  the  pass- 
over,  by  some  pollutions  in  the  house  of  a  heathen. 

The  same  reason  also  hindered  them  from  entering  the 
governor's  palace  on  other  festivals,  when  that  magistrate 
attended  in  order  to  administer  justice;  a  kind  of  structure 
was  therefore  erected  adjoining  to  the  palace,  which  served 
instead  of  a  tribunal  or  judgment-seat.  This  structure,  called 
in  the  Hebrew,  Gabbatha,  was  finely  paved  with  small  pieces 
of  marble  of  different  colors,  being  always  exposed  to  the 
weather.  One  side  of  this  structure  joined  to  the  palace, 
and  a  door  was  made  in  the  wall,  through  which  the  governor 
passed  to  the  tribunal.  By  this  contrivance,  the  people  might 
stand  round  the  tribunal  in  the  open  air,  hear  and  see  the 
governor  when  he  spoke  to  them  from  the  pavement,  and 
observe  the  whole  administration  of  justice,  without  danger 
of  being  defiled  either  by  him  or  any  of  his  retinue. 

Before  this  tribunal  the  great  Eedeemer  of  mankind  was 
brought,  and  the  priests  and  elders  having  taken  their  places 
round  the  pavement,  the  governor  ascended  the  judgment- 
seat,  and  asked  them  what  accusation  they  brought  against 
the  prisoner.  Though  nothing  could  be  more  natural  than 
for  the  governor  to  ask  this  question,  yet  the  Jews  thought 
themselves  highly  aff'ronted  by  it,  and  haughtily  answered, 
If  he  had  not  been  a  great  and  very  extraordinary  malefac- 
tor, we  should  not  have  given  you  this  trouble  at  all,  much 
less  at  so  unseasonable  an  hour.  Pilate  then  examined  Jesus, 
and  finding  he  had  not  been  guilty  either  of  rebelhon  or 
sedition,  but  that  he  was  accused  of  particulars  relating  to 
the  religion  and  customs  of  the  Jews,  grew  angry,  and  said, 
What  are  these  things  to  me?  Take  him  yourselves,  and 
judge  him  according  to  your  own  law — plainly  insinuating 
that,  in  his  opinion,  the  crime  they  had  laid  to  the  prisoner's 
charge  was  not  of  a  capital  nature ;  and  that  such  punish- 


252  CHRIST. 

ments  as  they  were  permitted  by  Caesar  to  inflict,  were  ade- 
quate to  any  misdemeanor  that  Jesus  was  charged  with.  But 
this  proposal  of  the  Eoman  governor  was  absolutely  refused 
by  the  Jewish  priests  and  elders,  because  it  condemned  the 
whole  proceeding,  and  therefore  they  answered,  We  have  no 
power  to  put  any  one  to  death,  as  this  man  certainly  deserves, 
who  has  attempted  not  only  to  make  innovations  in  our  reli- 
gion, but  also  to  set  himself  up  for  a  king. 

The  eagerness  of  the  Jews  to  get  Jesus  condemned  by  the 
Roman  governor,  who  often  sentenced  malefactors  to  be  cru- 
cified, tended  to  fulfill  the  saying  of  the  Eedeemer,  who  dur- 
ing the  course  of  his  ministry  had  often  mentioned  what  kind 
of  death  he  was,  by  the  counsel  of  his  Father,  appointed  to 
die.  Pilate,  finding  it  impossible  to  prevent  a  tumult,  unless 
he  proceeded  to  try  Jesus,  ascended  again  the  judgment-seat, 
and  commanded  his  accusers  to  produce  their  accusations 
against  him. 

Accordingly  they  accused  him  of  seditious  practices, 
affirming  that  he  had  used  every  method  in  his  power  to 
dissuade  the  people  from  paying  taxes  to  Caesar,  pretending 
that  he  himself  was  the  Messiah,  the  great  King  of  the  Jews, 
so  long  expected.  But  they  brought  no  proof  of  these  asser- 
tions. They  only  insinuated  that  they  had  already  convicted 
him  of  this  assertion,  which  was  absolutely  false. 

Pilate,  however,  asked  him,  Is  it  true,  what  these  men  lay 
to  your  charge,  that  you  have  indeed  attempted  to  set  up 
yourself  as  king  of  the  Jews?  To  which  Jesus  replied. 
Have  you  ever,  during  your  stay  in  this  province,  heard  any 
thing  of  me  that  gave  you  reason  to  suspect  me  guilty  of 
secret  practices  and  seditious  designs  against  the  government  ? 
Or  do  you  found  your  question  only  on  the  present  clamor 
and  tumult  that  is  raised  against  me  ?  If  this  be  the  case, 
be  very  careful  lest  you  be  imposed  upon  merely  by  the 
ambiguity  of  a  word ;  for  to  be  King  of  the  Jews,  is  not  to 
erect  a  temporal  throne,  in  opposition  to  that  of  Caesar,  but 
a  thing  of  very  different  nature  ;  the  kingdom  of  the  Messiah 
is  a  heavenly  kingdom.  To  which  Pilate  replied.  Am  I  a 
Jew  ?     Can  I  tell  what  your  expectations  are,  and  in  what 


CHRIST.  253 

sense  you  understand  these  words  ?  The  rulers  and  chiefs 
of  your  own  people,  who  are  the  most  proper  judges  of  these 
particulars,  have  brought  you  before  me,  as  a  riotous  and 
seditious  person ;  if  this  be  not  the  truth,  let  me  know  what 
is,  and  the  crime  thou  hast  been  guilty  of. 

Jesus  answered,  I  have  indeed  a  kingdom,  and  this  king- 
dom I  have  professed  to  establish.  But  then  it  is  not  of  this 
world,  nor  have  my  endeavors  to  establish  it  any  tendency 
to  cause  disturbances  in  the  government ;  for,  had  that  been 
the  case,  my  servants  would  have  fought  -for  me,  and  not 
have  suffered  me  to  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Jews. 
But  I  tell  you  plainly,  my  kingdom  is  wholly  spiritual.  I 
reign  in  the  hearts  of  my  people,  and  subdue  their  wills  and 
affections  into  a  conformity  to  the  will  of  God. 

You  acknowledge,  then,  in  general,  answered  Pilate,  that 
you  have  professed  to  be  a  king  ?  To  which  the  blessed 
Jesus  replied,  In  the  sense  I  have  told  you,  I  have  declared, 
and  do  now  declare,  myself  to  be  a  king.  T'or  this  very  end 
I  was  born,  and  for  this  purpose  I  came  into  the  world,  that 
I  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth ;  and  whosoever  sincerely 
loves,  and  is  always  ready  to  embrace  the  truth,  will  hear  my 
testimony,  and  be  convinced  by  it.  Pilate  answered,  What 
is  truth  ?  And  immediately  went  out  tot»the.  Jews,  and  said 
unto  them,  I  have  again  examined  the  man,  but  can  find 
him  guilty  of  no  fault,  which,  according  to  the  Eoman  law, 
is  worthy  of  death. 

This  generous  declaration,  made  by  the  governor,  of  the 
innocence  of  the  blessed  Saviour,  had  no  effect  on  the  super- 
stitious and  bigoted  Jews.  They  even  persisted  in  their 
accusations  with  more  vehemence  than  before,  affirming  that 
he  had  attempted  to  raise  a  sedition  in  Galilee:  "He  stirreth 
up,"  said  they,  "the  people,  beginning  from  Galilee,  to  this 
place." 

Jesus,  however,  made  no  answer  at  all  to  this  heavy  charge. 
Nay,  he  continued  silent,  notwithstanding  the  governor  him- 
self expressly  required  him  to  speak  in  his  own  defense. 

A  conduct  so  extraordinary,  in  such  circumstances,  aston- 
ished Pilate  exceedingly ;   for  he  had  great  reason  to  be 


254 


CURIST. 


persuaded  of  the  innocence  of  Jesus.  The  truth  is,  he  was 
altogether  ignorant  of  the  divine  counsel  by  which  the  whole 
affair  was  directed. 

There  were  many  reasons  which  induced  the  blessed  Jesus 
not  to  make  a  public  defense.  He  came  into  the  world 
purely  to  redeem  lost  and  undone  sinners  by  offering  up 
himself  a  sacrifice  for  them ;  but  had  he  pleaded  with  his 
usual  force,  the  people  had,  in  all  probability,  been  induced 
to  ask  his  release,  and  consequently  his  death  had  been  pre- 
vented. Besides,  the  gross  falsehood  of  the  accusation,  known 
to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Galilee,  rendered  any  reply  absolutely 
needless. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  chief  priests  continued  to  accuse 
him,  with  great  noise  and  tumult ;  and  the  meek  and  humble 
Jesus  still  continuing  mute,  Pilate  spake  again  to  him,  saying. 
Wilt  thou  continue  to  make  no  defense  ?  Dost  thou  not  hear 
how  vehemently  these  men  accuse  thee?  But  Pilate,  recol- 
lecting what  the  chief  priests  had  said  with  regard  to  a  sedi- 
tion in  Galilee,  asked  if  Jesus  came  out  of  that  country ; 
and  on  being  informed  he  did,  he  immediately  ordered  him 
to  be  carried  to  Herod,  who  was  also  then  at  Jerusalem.  The 
governor  supposed  that  Herod,  in  whose  dominions  the  sedi- 
tion was  said  to  hiive  been  raised,  must  be  a  much  better 
judge  of  the  affair  than  himself.  Besides,  his  being  a  Jew 
rendered  him  more  expert  in  the  religion  of  his  own  country, 
and  gave  him  greater  influence  over  the  chief  priests  and 
elders  :  he  therefore  considered  him  as  the  most  proper  per- 
son to  prevail  on  the  Jewish  council  to  desist  from  their  cruel 
prosecution.  But  if,  contrary  to  all  human  probability,  he 
should  at  their  solicitation  condemn  Jesus,  Pilate  hoped  to 
escape  the  guilt  and  infamy  of  putting  an  innocent  person 
to  death.  He  might  also  propose,  by  this  action,  to  regain 
Herod's  friendship,  which  he  had  formerly  lost  by  encroach- 
ing, in  all  probability,  on  his  privileges.  But  however  that 
may  be,  or  whatever  motive  induced  Pilate  to  send  Jesus  to 
Herod,  the  latter  greatly  rejoiced  at  this  opportunity  of 
seeing  him,  hoping  to  have  the  pleasure  of  beholding  him 
perform   some   miracle.     In  this,  however,   he  was   disap- 


CHRIST.  255 

pointed ;  for  as  Herod  had  apostatized  from  the  doctrine  of 
John  the  Baptist,  to  which  he  was  probably  once  a  convert, 
and  had  even  put  his  teacher  to  death,  the  blessed  Jesus, 
however  liberal  of  his  miracles  to  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
affliction,  would  not  work  them  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of  a 
tyrant,  nor  even  answer  one  of  the  many  questions  he  pro- 
posed to  him. 

Herod  finding  his  expectations  thus  cut  off,  ordered  our 
blessed  Saviour  to  be  clothed  with  an  old  robe,  resembling  in 
color  those  worn  by  kings,  and  permitted  his  attendants  to 
insult  him.  From  Herod's  dressing  him  in  this  manner,  it 
evidently  appears  that  the  chief  priests  and  elders  had 
accused  him  of  nothing  but  his  having  assumed  the  character 
of  the  Messiah,  for  the  affront  put  upon  him  was  plainly  in 
derision  of  that  profession. 

The  other  head  of  accusation,  namely,  his  having  attempted 
to  raise  a  sedition  in  Galilee,  on  account  of  tribute  paid  to 
Csesar,  they  did  not  dare  to  mention,  as  Herod  could  not  fail 
of  knowing  it  to  be  a  gross  and  malicious  falsehood.  And 
no  crim-e  worthy  of  death  being  laid  to  his  charge,  Herod 
sent  him  again  to  Pilate.  It  seems  that,  though  he  was  dis- 
pleased with  the  great  Redeemer  of  mankind  for  refusing  to 
work  a  miracle  before  him,  yet  he  did  not  think  proper  to 
comply  with  the  wishes  of  his  enemies. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


JESUS  CONDEMNED  AND  DELIVERED  AT  THE  INSTIGATION  OF  THE  INVET- 
ERATE JEWS;    IS  LED  TO  MOUNT  CALVARY;    CRUCIFIED  BETWEEN 
TWO  THIEVES;    NATURE'S  PHENOMENON  ON  THE  OCCASION. 

N  order  to  acquire  popular  applause,  the  Roman 

governors  used  generally,  at  the  feast  of  the  pass- 

^ }  over,  to   release  a  prisoner  nominated   by  the 

people.     At  this  feast  there  was  one  in  prison, 

named  Barabbas,  who,  at  the  head  of  numbers  of 

rebels,  had  made  an  insurrection  in  the  city,  and  committed 


256  CHRIST. 

murder  during  the  confusion.  The  multitude  being  now 
again  assembled  before  the  governor's  palace,  began  to  call 
aloud  on  him  to  perform  the  annual  office  of  mercy  custom- 
ary at  that  festival.  Pilate,  glad  of  this  opportunity,  told 
them  that  he  was  very  willing  to  grant  the  favor  they  de- 
sired ;  and  asked  them  whether  they  would  have  Barabbas 
or  Jesus  released  unto  them.  But,  without  waiting  for  an 
answer,  he  offered  to  release  Jesus,  knowing  that  the  chief 
priests  had  delivered  him  through  envy  ;  especially  as  Herod 
had  not  found  him  guilty  of  the  crimes  laid  to  his  charge. 

While  these  particulars  were  transacting,  Pilate  received  a 
message  from  his  wife,  then  with  him  at  Jerusalem,  and  who 
had  that  niorning  been  greatly  affected  by  a  dream  which 
gave  her  great  une^iness. 

The  dream  had  so  great  an  effect  on  this  Roman  lady,  that 
she  could  not  rest  till  she  had  sent  an  account  of  it  to  her 
husband,  who  was  then  sitting  with  the  tribunal  on  the  pave- 
ment, and  begged  him  to  have  no  hand  in  the  death  of  the 
righteous  person  he  was  then  judging. 

The  people  had  not  yet  determined  whether  they  would 
have  Jesus  or  Barabbas  released  to  them ;  therefore,  when 
Pilate  received  the  message  from  his  wife,  he  called  the  chief 
priests  and  rulers  together,  and  in  the  hearing  of  the  multi- 
tude, made  a  speech  to  them,  in  which  he  gave  them  an 
account  of  the  examination  which  Jesus  had  undergone, 
both  at  his  own  and  Herod's  tribunal,  declaring  that  in  both 
courts  it  had  turned  out  honorably  to  his  character;  for 
which  reason  he  proposed  to  them  that  he  should  be  the 
object  of  the  people's  favor.  Pilate  did  the  priests  the  honor 
of  desiring  to  know  their  inclinations  in  particular,  perhaps 
with  a  design  to  soften  their  stony  hearts,  and,  if  possible,  to 
move  them  for  once  to  an  injured  but  innocent  man.  But 
he  was  persuaded  that,  if  pity  was  absolutely  banished  from 
their  callous  breasts,  his  proposal  would  have  been  acceptable 
to  the  people,  whom  he  expected  would  embrace  the  first 
opportunity  of  declaring  in  his  favor.  Yet  in  this  he  was 
disappointed.  They  cried  out  all  at  once  "Away  with  this 
man,  and  release  unto  us  Barabbas." 


CHRIST.  257 

Pilate  himself  was  astonished  at  this  determination  of  the 
multitude,  and  repeated  his  question,  for  he  could  hardly 
believe  what  he  had  himself  heard.  But  on  their  again 
declaring  that  they  desired  Barabbas  might  be  released,  he 
asked  them  what  he  should  do  with  Jesus,  which  is  called 
Christ?  As  if  he  had  said,  You  demand  that  Barabbas 
should  be  released ;  but  what  shall  I  then  do  with  Jesus  ? 
You  can  not  surely  desire  me  to  crucify  him  whom  so  many 
of  you  have  acknowledged  as  your  Messiah?  "But  they 
cried,  saying,  Crucify  him !  crucify  him !  Then  Pilate  saith 
unto  them.  Why  ?  what  evil  hath  he  done  ?  And  they  cried 
out  the  more  exceedingly.  Crucify  him  ?" 

They  were  so  resolutely  determined  to  have  him  destroyed, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  governor  urged  them  again  and 
again  to  desire  his  release,  declared  his  innocence,  and  offered 
several  times  to  dismiss  him,  they  would  not  hear  it,  uttering 
their  rage,  sometimes  in  hollow,  distant,  inarticulate  murmurs, 
and*  sometimes  in  furious  outcries,  to  such  a  pitch  were  their 
passions  raised  by  the  craft  and  artful  insinuations  of  their 
priests. 

According,  therefore,  to  the  Jewish  rites,  Pilate  made  the 
most  solemn  and  public  declaration  of  the  innocence  of  our 
dear  Eedeemer,  and  of  his  resolution  of  having  no  hand  in 
his  death.  But,  notwithstanding  the  solemnity  of  this  decla- 
ration, the  Jews  continued  inflexible,  and  cried  out,  with  one 
voice,  "  His  blood  be  on  us,  and  on  our  children !"  Dreadful 
imprecation !  It  shocks  humanity  !  An  imprecation  which 
brought  on  them  the  dreadful  vengeance  of  Omnipotence, 
and  is  still  a  heavy  burden  on  that  perfidious  people ! 

The  governor,  finding  it  impossible  to  alter  their  choice, 
released  unto  them  Barabbas.  And  as  it  was  the  general 
practice  of  the  Eomans  to  scourge  those  criminals  they  con- 
demned to  be  crucified,  Pilate  ordered  the  blessed  Jesus  to  be 
scourged  before  he  delivered  him  to  the  soldiers  to  be  put  to 
death. 

The  soldiers  having  scourged  Jesus,  and  received  orders  to 

crucify  him,  carried  him  into  the  Preetorium,  or  common  hall, 

where  they  added  the  shame  of  disgrace  to  the  bitterness  of 

17 


258  CHRIST. 

his  punislimeiit ;  for,  sore  as  he  was  by  reason  of  his  stripes 
they  had  given  him,  they  dressed  him  in  a  purple  robe,  in 
derision  of  his  being  king  of  the  Jews.  Having  dressed  him 
in  this  robe  of  mock  majesty,  they  put  a  reed  in  his  hand, 
instead  of  a  scepter,  and  after  platting  a  wreath  of  thorns, 
they  put  it  on  his  head  for  a  crown,  forcing  it  down  in  so 
rude  a  manner  that  his  temples  were  torn,  and  his  face  be- 
smeared with  his  most  precious  blood.  To  the  Son  of  God 
in  this  condition,  the  rude  soldiers  bowed  the  knee,  pretend- 
ing to  do  it  out  of  respect ;  but  at  the  same  time  gave  him 
severe  blows  on  his  head,  which  drove  the  points  of  the 
wreath  afresh  into  his  temples,  and  then  spat  on  him,  to 
express  their  highest  contempt. 

The  governor,  whose  ofi&ce  obliged  him  to  be  present  at 
this  shocking  scene  of  inhumanity,  was  ready  to  burst  with 
grief.  The  sight  of  an  innocent  and  virtuous  man,  treated 
with  such  revolting  barbarity,  raised  in  his  breast  the  most 
painful  sensation  of  pity  ;  and  though  he  had  given  sentence 
that  it  should  be  as  the  Jews  desired,  and  had  delivered  the 
Saviour  to  the  soldiers  to  be  crucified,  he  was  in  hopes  that, 
if  he  showed  him  to  the  people  in  that  condition,  they  must 
relent,  and  earnestly  petition  him  to  be  released.  Filled  with 
this  thought,  he  resolved  to  carry  him  out,  and  exhibit  to 
their  view  a  spectacle  capable  of  softening  the  most  enven- 
omed, obdurate,  enraged  enemy ;  and  in  order  to  render  the 
impression  still  more  poignant,  he  went  out  himself,  and  said 
unto  them.  Though  I  have  sentenced  this  man  to  die,  and 
have  scourged  him  as  one  that  is  to  be  crucified,  yet.  I  once 
more  bring  him  before  you,  that  I  may  again  testify  how 
fally  I  am  persuaded  of  his  innocence,  and  that  ye  may  yet 
have  an  opportunity  of  saving  his  life. 

As  soon  as  the  governor  had  finished  his  speech,  Jesus 
appeared  on  the  pavement,  his  hair,  his  face,  his  shoulders 
slotted  with  blood,  and  the  purple  robe  bedaubed  with  spittle 
of  the  soldiers.  And  that  the  sight  of  Jesus  in  this  distress 
might  make  the  greater  impression  on  the  minds  of  the  peo- 
ple, Pilate,  while  he  was  coming  forward,  cried  out,  "Behold 
the  man !"     As  if  he  had  said.  Will  nothing  make  you  relent? 


CHE  I  ST.  259 

Have  ye  lost  s  J  the  feelings  of  humanity,  and  bowels  of 
compassion?  Can  you  bear  to  see  the  innocent,  a  son  of 
Abraham,  thus  injured? 

But  all  this  was  to  no  purpose.  The  priests,  whose  rage 
and  malice  had  extinguished  not  only  the  sentiments  of  jus- 
tice and  feelings  of  pity  natural  to  the  human  heart,  but  also 
that  love  which  countrymen  bear  for  each  other,  no  sooner 
saw  Jesus,  than  they  began  to  fear  the  fickle  populace  might 
relent ;  and  therefore,  laying  decency  aside,  they  led  the  way 
for  the  multitude,  crying  out,  with  all  their  might,  "  Crucify 
him  !  crucify  him !" 

Pilate,  vexed  to  see  the  Jewish  rulers  thus  obstinately  bent 
on  the  destruction  of  a  person  from  whom  they  had  nothing 
to  fear  that  was  dangerous,  either  with  regard  to  their  church 
or  state,  passionately  told  them  that,  if  they  would  have  him 
crucified,  they  must  do  it  themselves ;  because  he  would  not 
suffer  his  people  to  murder  a  man  who  was  guilty  of  no 
crime.  But  this  they  also  refused,  thinking  it  dishonorable 
to  receive  permission  to  punish  a  person  that  had  been  more 
than  once  declared  innocent  by  the  judge.  Besides,  they 
considered  with  themselves  that  the  governor  might  after- 
ward have  called  it  sedition,  as  the  permission  had  been 
extorted  from  him. 

Accordingly  they  told  him  that,  even  though  none  of  the 
things  alledged  against  the  prisoner  were  true,  he  had  com- 
mitted such  a  crime  in  presence  of  the  council  itself,  as  by 
their  law  deserved  the  most  ignominious  death.  He  had 
spoken  blasphemy,  calling  himself  the  Son  of  God,  a  title 
which  no  mortal  could  assume  without  the  highest  degree  of 
guilt. 

When  Pilate  heard  that  Jesus  called  himself  the  Son  of 
God,  his  fear  was  increased.  Knowing  the  obstinacy  of  the 
Jews,  in  all  matters  of  religion,  he  was  afraid  they  would 
make  a  tumult  in  earnest ;  or  perhaps  he  was  himself  more 
afraid  than  ever  to  take  away  his  life,  because  he  suspected 
that  it  might  be  true.  He  doubtless  remembered  the  miracles 
said  to  have  been  performed  by  Jesus,  and  therefore  thought 
he  might  really  be  the  Son  of  God. 


260  CHRIST. 

Reflections  of  this  kind  induced  Pilate  to  go  again  into  tlio 
judgment-hall,  and  ask  Jesus  from  what  father  he  sprung, 
and  from  what  country  he  came.  But  our  blessed  Saviour 
gave  him  no  answer,  lest  the  governor  should  reverse  his 
sentence,  and  absolutely  refuse  to  crucify  him. 

Pilate  marveled  greatly  at  this  silence,  and  said  unto  him, 
Why  dost  thou  refuse  to  answer  me  ?  You  can  not  be  igno- 
rant that  I  am  invested  with  absolute  power,  either  to  release 
or  crucify  you. 

To  which  Jesus  answered,  I  well  know  that  you  are  Ctesar's 
servant,  and  accountable  to  him  for  your  conduct.  I  forgive 
you  any  injury  which,  contrary  to  your  inclinations,  the  pop- 
ular fury  constrains  you  to  do  unto  me.  Thou  hast  thy 
power  from  above,  from  the  emperor ;  for  which  cause  the 
Jewish  high  priest,  who  hath  put  me  into  thy  hands,  and  by 
pretending  that  I  am  Caesar's  enemy,  forces  thee  to  condemn 
me  ;  or,  if  thou  refusest,  will  accuse  thee  as  negligent  of  the 
emperor's  interest ;  he  is  more  guilty  than  thou. 

This  sweet  and  modest  answer  made  such  an  impression 
on  Pilate,  that  he  went  out  to  the  people,  and  declared  his 
intention  of  releasing  Jesus,  whether  they  gave  their  consent 
or  not.  Upon  which  the  chief  priests  and  rulers  cried  out, 
"If  thou  let  this  man  go,  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend;  who- 
soever maketh  himself  a  king,  speaketh  against  Cnesar." 
This  argument  was  weighty,  and  shook  Pilate's  resolution  to 
the  very  basis.  He  was  terrified  at  the  thought  of  being 
accused  to  Tiberius,  who  in  all  affairs  of  government  always 
suspected  the  worst,  and  punished  the  most  minute  crimes 
relative  thereto  with  death.  The  governor  being  thus  con- 
strained to  yield,  contrary  to  his  inclination,  was  very  angry 
with  the  priests  for  stirring  up  the  people  to  such  a  pitch  of 
madness,  and  determined  to  affront  them.  He  therefore 
brought  Jesus  out  a  second  time,  into  the  pavement,  wearing 
the  purple  robe  and  crown  of  thorns ;  and,  pointing  to  him, 
said,  "Behold  your  king!"  ridiculing  the  national  expecta- 
tion of  a  Messiah.  This  sarcastical  expression  stung  them 
to  the  quick,  and  they  cried  out,  "Away  with  him  I  away 
with  him  !  crucify  him  1"     To  which  Pilate  answered,  with 


CHEIST.  261 

the  same  mocking  air,  "Shall  I  crucify  your  king?"  The 
chief  priests  answered,  "  We  have  no  king  but  Ctesar." 
Thus  did  they  publicly  renounce  their  hope  of  the  Messiah, 
which  the  whole  economy  of  their  religion  had  been  calcula- 
ted to  cherish.  They  also  publicly  acknowledged  their  sub- 
jection to  the  Eomans  ;  and  consequently  condemned  them- 
selves, when  they  afterward  rebelled  against  the  emperor. 

The  solemn,  the  awful  period  now  approached,  when  the 
Son  of  God,  the  Eedeemer  of  the  world,  was  to  undergo  the 
oppressive  burden  of  our  sins  upon  the  tree,  and  submit  unto 
death,  even  the  death  of  the  cross,  that  we  might  live  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  for  ever  and  ever. 

Sentence  being  pronounced  upon  the  blessed  Jesus,  the 
soldiers  were  ordered  to  prepare  for  his  execution ;  a  com- 
mand which  they  readily  obeyed,  and  after  clothing  him  in 
his  own  garments,  led  him  away  to  crucify  him. 

It  is  not  said  that  they  took  the  crown  of  thorns  from  his 
temples ;  probably  he  died  wearing  it,  that  the  title  placed 
over  his  head  might  be  the  better  understood. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  ministers  of  Jewish  malice 
remitted  any  of  the  circumstances  of  affliction,  which  were 
ever  laid  on  persons  condemned  to  be  crucified.  Accordingly 
Jesus  was  obliged'  to  walk  on  foot  to  the  place  of  execution, 
bearing  his  cross.  But  the  fatigue  of  the  preceding  night, 
spent  without  sleep,  the  sufferings  he  had  undergone  in  the 
garden,  his  having  been  hurried  from  place  to  place,  and 
obliged  to  stand  the  whole  time  of  his  trial ;  the  want  of  food 
and  the  loss  of  blood  he  had  sustained,  and  not  his  want  of 
courage  on  this  occasion,  made  him  faint  under  the  burden 
of  his  cross. 

The  soldiers,  seeing  him  unable  to  bear  the  weight,  laid  it 
on  (ine  Simon,  a  native  of  Gyrene,  in  Egypt,  and  forced  him 
to  bear  it  after  the  blessed  Jesus. 

The  soldiers,  however,  did  not  do  this  out  of  compassion 
to  the  Saviour's  sufferings,  but  to  prevent  his  dying  with,  the 
fatigue,  and  by  that  means  elude  his  punishment. 

In  this  journey  to  Calvary,  he  was  followed  by  an  innu- 
merable multitude  of  people,  particularly  of  women,  who 


262  CHRIST. 

lamented  bitterly  tlie  severity  of  his  sentence,  and  showed 
all  the  tokens  of  sincere  compassion  and  grief.  Jesus,  who 
always  felt  the  woes  of  others  more  than  he  did  his  own,  for- 
getting his  distress  at  the  very  time  when  it  lay  heaviest 
upon  him,  turned  himself  about,  and,  with  a  benevolence 
and  tenderness  truly  divine,  said  to  them,  "  Daughters  of 
Jerusalem,  weep  not  for  me,  but  weep  for  yourselves,  and 
for  your  children." 

Being  arrived  at  the  place  of  execution,  which  was  called 
Grolgotha,  or  the  place  of  skulls,  from  the  criminals'  bones 
which  lay  scattered  there,  some  of  our  Eedeemer's  friends 
offered  him  a  stupefying  potion,  to  render  him  insensible  to 
the  ignominy  and  excruciating  pain  of  his  punishment. 

But,  as  soon  as  he  had  tasted  the  potion,  he  refused  to 
drink  it,  being  determined  to  bear  his  sufferings,  however 
sharp,  not  by  intoxicating  himself,  but  by  the  strength  of 
patience,  fortitude,  and  faith.  Jesus  having  refused  the 
potion,  the  soldiers  began  to  execute  their  orders  by  stripping 
him  quite  naked,  and  in  that  condition  began  to  fasten  him 
to  his  cross.  But  while  they  were  piercing  his  hands  and  his 
feet  with  nails,  instead  of  crying  out  through  the  sharpness 
of  the  pain,  he  calmly,  though  fervently,  prayed  for  them, 
and  for  all  those  who  had  any  hand  in  his  death  ;  beseeching 
his  heavenly  Father  to  forgive  them,  and  excusing  them  him- 
self by  the  only  circumstance  that  could  alleviate  their  guilt, 
— I  mean,  their  ignorance.  "  Father,"  said  the  compassion- 
ate Eedeemer  of  mankind,  "  forgive  them,  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do." 

This  was  infinite  meekness  and  goodness,  truly  worthy  of 
the  only-begotten  Son  of  God;  an  example  of  forgiveness 
which,  though  it  can  never  be  equaled  by  any,  should  be 
imitated  by  all. 

But  behold  the  appointed  soldiers  dig  the  hole  in  which 
the  cross  was  to  be  erected.  The  cross  is  placed  in  the 
ground,  and  the  blessed  Jesus  lies  on  the  bed  of  sorrows. 

They  nail  him  to  it.  His  nerves  break.  His  blood  dis- 
tills. He  hangs  upon  his  wounds  naked,  a  spectacle  to 
heaven  and  earth.     Thus  was  the  only -begotten  Son  of  God, 


CHRIST.  263 

•who  came  down  from  heaven  to  save  the  world,  crucified  by 
his  own  creatures ;  and  to  render  the  ignominy  still  greater, 
placed  between  two  thieves.  "  Hear,  O  heavens !  0  earth, 
earth,  earth,  hear !  The  Lord  hath  nourished  and  brought 
up  children,  and  they  have  rebelled  against  him." 

It  was  usual  for  the  crimes  committed  by  malefactors  to  be 
written  on  a  white  board  with  black,  and  placed  over  their 
heads  on  the  cross.  In  conformity  to  this  custom,  Pilate 
wrote  a  title  in  the  Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  that 
all  foreigners,  as  well  as  natives,  might  be  able  to  read  it, 
and  fastened  it  to  the  cross,  over  the  head  of  Jesus ;  and  the 
inscription  was,  "  This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews."  But  when 
the  chief-priests  and  elders  had  read  this  title,  they  were 
greatly  displeased ;  because,  as  it  represented  the  crime  for 
which  Jesus  was  condemned,  it  insinuated  that  he  had  been 
acknowledged  for  the  Messiah.  Besides,  being  placed  over 
the  head  of  one  who  was  dying  by  the  most  infamous  pun- 
ishment, it  implied  that  all  who  attempted  to  deliver  the 
Jews  should  perish  in  the  same  mannfer.  The  faith  and  hope 
of  the  nation,  therefore,  being  thus  publicly  ridiculed,  it  is 
no  wonder  that  the  priests  thought  themselves  highly  af- 
fronted ;  and  accordingly  came  to  Pilate,  begging  that  the 
writing  might  be  altered.  But  as  he  had  intended  the  affront 
in  revenge  for  their  forcing  him  to  crucify  Jesus  contrary 
both  to  his  judgment  and  inclination,  he  refused  to  grant 
their  request. 

When  the  soldiers  had  nailed  the  blessed  Jesus  to  the 
cross,  and  erected  it,  they  divided  his  garments  among  them ; 
but  his  coat,  or  vesture,  being  without  seam,  woven  from  the 
top  throughout,  they  agreed  not  to  rend  it,  but  to  cast  lots 
for  it,  by  which  the  prediction  of  the  prophet  concerning  the 
death  and  sufferings  of  the  Messiah  was  fulfilled:  "They 
parted  my  garments  among  them,  and  for  my  vesture  did 
they  cast  lots," — a  sufiicient  indication  that  every  circumstance 
of  the  death  and  passion  of  the  blessed  Jesus  was  long  being 
determined  in  the  court  of  heaven  ;  and  accordingly  his  being 
crucified  between  two  malefactors  was  expressly  foretold: 
"And  he  was  numbered  with  the  transgressors." 


264 


CHRIST. 


The  common  people,  of  the  baser  sort,  whom  the  vile 
priests  had  incensed  against  Jesus,  by  the  malicious  falsehoods 
they  had  spread  concerning  him,  and  which  they  pretended 
to  found  on  the  depositions  of  witnesses — the  common  people, 
I  say,  seeing  him  hang  in  so  infamous  a  manner  upon  the 
cross,  and  reading  the  inscription  that  was  placed  over  his 
head,  expressed  their  indignation  at  him  by  sarcastical  ex- 
pressions :  "  Ah  thou,"  said  they,  "  that  destroy  est  the  temple, 
and  buildest  it  in  three  days,  save  thyself,  and  come  down 
from  the  cross." 

But  the  common  people  were  not  the  only  persons  who 
mocked  and  derided  Jesus  while  he  was  suffering  to  obtain 
the  remission  of  sins  for  all  mankind.  The  rulers,  who  now 
imagined  they  had  effectually  destroyed  his  pretensions  to 
the  character  of  the  Messiah,  joined  the  populace  in  ridiculing 
him ;  and  with  a  meanness  of  soul  which  many  infamous 
wretches  would  have  scorned,  mocked  him,  even  while  he 
was  struggli-ng  with  the  agonies  of  death.  They  scoffed  at 
the  miracles  by  which  he  demonstrated  himself  to  be  the 
Messiah,  and  promised  to  believe  on  him,  on  condition  of  his 
proving  his  pretensions  by  descending  from  his  cross. 

It  is  abundantly  evident,  that,  if  the  blessed  Jesus  had 
descended  from  the  cross,  the  Jewish  priests  would  have 
continued  in  their  infidelity ;  and  consequently  that  their 
declaration  was  made  with  no  other  intention  than  to  insult 
the  Kedeemer  of  mankind,  thinking  it  impossible  for  him  now 
to  escape  out  of  their  hands. 

The  soldiers  also  joined  in  this  general  scene  of  mockery : 
"If  thou  be  the  king  of  the  Jews,"  said  they,  "  save  thyself." 
Nor  did  even  one  of  the  thieves  forbear  mocking  the  gi'eat 
Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  though  laboring  himself  under  the 
most  racking  pains,  and  struggling  with  the  agonies  of 
death. 

But  the  other  exercised  a  most  extraordinary  faith,  at  a 
time  when  our  great  Eedeemer  was  in  the  highest  affliction, 
mocked  by  men,  and  hanged  upon  the  cross,  as  the  most 
ignominious  of  malefactors. 

This  Jewish  criminal  seems  to  have  entei-tained  a  more 


CHRIST.  265 

rational  and  exalted  notion  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom  than 
even  tlie  disciples  themselves.  They  expected  nothing  but  a 
secular  empire ;  he  gave  strong  intimations  of  his  having  an 
idea  of  Christ's  spiritual  dominion ;  for  at  the  very  time 
when  Jesus  was  dying  on  the  cross,  he  begged  to  be  remem- 
bered by  him  when  he  came  into  his  kingdom.  JSTor  did  he 
make  this  request  in  vain;  the  Saviour  answered  him, 
"  Verily  I  say  unto  thee,  to-day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
paradise." 

But,  see !  the  sun,  that  glorious  luminary  of  heaven,  as  it 
were,  hides  his  face  from  this  detestable  action  of  mortals, 
and  is  wrapped  in  the  pitchy  mantle  of  chaotic  darkness ! 
Surely  nothing  could  be  more  proper  than  this  extraordinary 
alteration  in  the  face  of  nature,  while  the  Sun  of  righteous- 
ness was  withdrawing  his  beams,  not  only  from  the  promised 
land,  but  from  the  whole  world  ;  for  it  was  at  once  a  mirac- 
ulous testimony  given  by  the  Almighty  himself  to  the  inno- 
cence of  his  Son,  and  a  proper  emblem  of  the  departure  of 
him  who  was  the  light  of  the  world ;  at  least  till  his  luminous 
rays,  like  the  beams  of  the  morning,  shone  out  anew  with 
additional  splendor  in  the  ministry  of  his  apostles. 

Nor  was  the  darkness  which  now  covered  Judea  and  the 
neighboring  countries,  beginning  about  noon,  and  continuing 
till  Jesus  expired,  the  effect  of  an  ordinary  eclipse  of  the  sun. 

It  is  well  known  that  this  phenomena  can  only  happen  at 
the  change  of  the  moon ;  whereas  the  Jewish  passover,  at 
which  time  our  dear  Eedeemer  suffered,  was  always  celebrated 
at  the  full. 

Besides,  the  total  darkness  of  an  eclipse  of  the  sun  never 
exceeds  twelve  or  fifteen  minutes,  whereas  this  continued 
three  full  hours. 

Nothing,  therefore,  but  the  immediate  hand  of  that  Al- 
mighty Being  which  placed  the  sun  in  the  centre  of  the 
planetary  system,  could  have  produced  this  astonishing  dark- 
ness. Nothing  but  Omnipotence,  who  first  lighted  this  glo- 
rious luminary  of  heaven,  could  have  deprived  it  of  its 
cheering  rays. 

It  was  considered  as  a  miracle  by  the  heathen  themselves ; . 


266  CHRIST. 

and  one  of  tliem  cried  out,  "  Either  the  world  is  at  an  end, 
or  the  God  of  nature  suffers !"  And  well  might  he  use  the 
expression ;  for  never  since  this  planetary  system  was  called 
from  its  primitive  chaos,  was  known  such  a  deprivation  of 
light  in  the  glorious  luminary  of  day. 

When  his  mother,  his  mother's  sister,  Mary  Magdalene, 
and  the  beloved  disciple,  observed  the  veil  of  darkness  begin 
to  extend  over  the  face  of  nature,  they  drew  near  to  the  foot 
of  the  cross,  probably  in  expectation  that  the  Son  of  God 
was  going  to  shake  the  frame  of  the  universe,  unloose  him- 
self from  the  cross,  and  take  ample  vengeance  on  his  cruel 
and  perfidious  enemies. 

The  blessed  Jesus  was  now  in  the  midst  of  his  sufferings. 
Yet  when  he  saw  his  mother  and  her  companions,  their  grief 
greatly  affected  his  tender  breast,  especially  the  distress  of 
his  mother.  The  agonies  of  death  under  which  he  was  now 
laboring  could  not  prevent  his  expressing  the  most  affection- 
ate regard  both  for  her  and  for  them. 

For,  that  she  might  have  some  consolation  to  support  her 
under  the  greatness  of  her  sorrows,  he  told  her  the  disciple 
whom  he  loved,  would,  for  the  sake  of  that  love,  supply  his 
place  to  her  after  he  was  taken  from  them,  even  the  place  of 
a  son ;  and  therefore  he  desired  her  to  consider  him  as  such, 
and  expect  from  him  all  the  duties  of  a  child :  "  Woman," 
said  he,  "behold  thy  son  !" 

Nor  was  this  remarkable  token  of  filial  affection  toward 
his  mother  the  only  instance  the  dying  Jesus  gave  of  his 
sincere  love  to  his  friends  and  followers  ;  the  beloved  disciple 
had  also  a  token  of  his  highest  esteem.  He  singled  him  out 
as  the  only  person  among  his  friends  to  supply  his  place 
with  regard  to  his  mother. 

Thus  in  the  midst  of  the  heaviest  sufferings  that  human 
nature  ever  sustained,  the  blessed  Jesus  demonstrated  a  divine 
strength  of  benevolence. 

Even  at  the  time  when  his  own  distress  was  at  the  highest 
pitch,  and  nature  was  dressed  in  the  robe  of  mourning  for 
the  sufferings  of  the  Eedeemer  of  mankind,  his  friends  had 
so  large  a  share  of  his  concern,  that  their  happiness  inter- 


CHRIST  267 

mpted  the  sharpness  of  his  pains,  and  for  a  short  time  en- 
grossed his  thoughts. 

But  now  the  moment  when  he  should  resign  his  soul  into 
the  hands  of  his  heavenly  Father  approached,  and  he  repeated 
part,  at  least,  of  the  twenty-second  Psalm,  uttering  with  a 
loud  voice,  these  remarkable  words :  "  Eloi,  Eloi,  lama  sa- 
bacthani?"  that  is  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  for- 
saken me  ?"  Some  of  the  people  who  stood  by,  when  they 
heard  him  pronounce  the  first  words  of  the  psalm,  misunder- 
stood him ;  probably  from  their  not  hearing  him  distinctly, 
and  concluded  that  he  called  for  Elias. 

Upon  which  one  of  them  filled  a  sponge  with  vinegar,  put 
it  upon  a  reed,  and  gave  him  to  drink ;  being  desirous  of 
keeping  him  alive  as  long  as  possible,  and  see  whether  Elias 
would  come  to  take  him  down  from  the  cross. 

But  as  soon  as  Jesus  had  tasted  the  vinegar,  he  said,  "It 
is  finished;" — that  is,  the  work  of  man's  redemption  is  ac- 
complished ;  that  great  work  which  the  only-begotten  son  of 
God  came  into  the  world  to  perform  is  finished.  In  speaking 
these  words  he  cried  with  an  exceedingly  loud  voice,  and 
afterward  addressed  his  Almighty  Father  in  words  which 
form  the  best  pattern  of  a  recommendatory  prayer  at  the 
hour  of  death:  "Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit." 

And  having  uttered  these  words,  "  he  bowed  his  head  and 
gave  up  the  ghost." 

But,  behold!  at  the  very  instant  that  the  blessed  Jesus 
resigned  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  heavenly  Father,  the 
veil  of  the  temple  was  miraculously  rent  from  the  top  to  the 
bottom,  probably  in  the  presence  of  the  priest  who  burned 
incense  in  the  holy  place,  and  who  doubtless  published  the 
account  when  he  came  out ;  for  the  Saviour  expired  at  the 
ninth  hour,  the  very  time  of  offering  the  evening  sacrifice. 

Nor  was  this  the  only  miracle  that  happened  at  the  death 
of  the  great  Messiah ;  the  earth  trembled  from  its  very 
foundations,  the  flinty  rocks  burst  asunder,  and  the  sepulchres 
hewn  in  them  were  opened,  and  many  bodies  of  saints,  de- 
posited there,  awakened  after  his  resurrection  from  the  sleep 


268  CHRIST. 

of  death,  left  the  gloomy  chambers  of  the  tomb,  went  into 
the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  appeared  unto  many.  And  as  the 
rending  of  the  veil  of  the  temple  intimated  that  the  entrance 
into  the  holy  place,  the  type  of  heaven,  was  now  laid  open 
to  all  nations ;  so  the  resurrection  of  a  number  of  saints  from 
the  dead  demonstrated  that  the  power  of  death  and  the  grave 
was  broken ;  the  sting  was  taken  from  death,  and  the  victory 
wrested  from  the  grave.  In  short,  our  dear  Eedeemer's  con- 
quests over  the  enemies  of  mankind  were  shown  to  be  com- 
plete, and  an  earnest  was  given  of  the  general  resurrection 
from  the  dead. 

Nor  did  the  remarkable  particulars  which  attended  that 
awful  period,  when  Jesus  gave  up  the  ghost,  aflt'ect  the  natives 
of  Judea  only.  The  Eoman  centurion,  who  was  placed  near 
the  cross  to  prevent  disorders  of  any  kind,  glorified  the  Al- 
mighty, and  cried  out,  "Truly  this  was  the  son  of  God," 
And  others  who  were  with  them,  when  they  beheld  heaven 
itself  bearing  witness  of  the  truth  of  our  great  Eedeemer's 
mission,  smote  their  breasts  and  retired. 

They  had  been  incessant  with  loud  voices  to  have  him 
crucified;  but  when ^ they  saw  the  face  of  creation  wrapped 
in  the  gloomy  mantle  of  darkness,  during  his  crucifixion, 
and  found  his  death  accompanied  with  an  earthquake,  as  if 
nature  had  been  in  an  agony  when  he  died,  they  rightly  inter- 
preted these  prodigies  to  be  so  many  testimonies  from  the 
Almighty  of  his  innocence ;  and  their  passions,  which  had 
been  inflamed  and  exasperated  against  him,  became  quite 
calm,  or  exerted  in  his  behalf. 

Thus  was  demonstrated,  by  many  awful  tokens,  the  truth, 
the  divinity,  the  power  of  our  Eedeemer's  mission ;  the  blind, 
the  obdurate  Jews  were  struck  with  horror,  fully  convinced 
that  the  person  they  had  cruelly  put  to  death  was  nothing 
less  than  the  son  of  God,  the  promised  Messiah,  the  Saviour 
of  the  world. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

JESDS  TREATED  WITH  INDIGNITY  AFTER  HIS  CRUCIFi:/ION ;    WOMEN  VISIT 

HIS  SEPULCHRE ;    THE  SAVIOUR  BURSTS  THE  CHAINS  OF  DEATH, 

AND  RISES  FROM  THE  TOMB;   APPEARS  TO  THE  DISCIPLES; 

GIVES  HIS  BLESSING,  AND  ASCENDS  TO  HEAVEN. 

T  was  expressly  forbidden  by  the  law  of  Moses 
that  the  bodies  of  those  who  were  hanged  should 
' }  remain  all  night  upon  the  tree.  In  conformity  to 
this  law,  and  because  the  Sabbath  was  at  hand, 
the  Jews  begged  the  governor  that  the  legs  of 
the  three  persons  crucified  might  be  broken,  to  hasten  their 
deatlf.  To  this  request  Pilate  readily  consented ;  and  accord- 
ingly gave  the  necessary  orders  to  the  soldiers  to  put  it  in 
execution. 

But  on  perceiving  that  Jesus  was  already  dead,  the  soldiers 
did  not  give  themselves  the  trouble  of  breaking  his  legs,  as 
they  had  done  those  of  the  two  malefactors  that  were  cruci- 
fied with  him. 

One  of  them,  however,  either  out  of  wantonness  or  cruelty, 
thrust  a  spear  into  his  side,  and  out  of  the  wound  flowed 
blood  and  water. 

This  Avound,  therefore,  was  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
mankind,  as  it  abundantly  demonstrated  the  truth  of  our 
Saviour's  death,  and  consequently  prevented  all  objections 
that  the  enemies  of  our  holy  faith  would  otherwise  have 
raised  against  it. 

The  evangelist  adds,  that  the  legs  of  Jesus  were  not  bro- 
ken, but  his  side  pierced,  that  two  particular  prophecies  might 
befalfilled:  "A  bone  of  him  shall  not  be  broken,"  and  "They 
shall  look  on  him  whom  they  have  pierced." 

Among  the  disciples  of  our  blessed  Lord  was  one  called 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  a  person  equally  remarkable  for  his 
birth,  fortune,  and  office.  This  man,  who  was  not  to  be 
intimidated  by  the  malice  of  his  countrymen,  went  boldly  to 
Pilate,  and  begged  the  body  of  his  great  Master,  , 


270  CHRIST. 

He  had,  indeed,  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Eoman  governor 
who,  during  the  whole  course  of  our  Saviour's  trial,  had 
shown  the  greatest  inclination  to  release  him;  but  he  had 
reason  to  apprehend  that  this  action  might  draw  upon  him 
the  malice  of  the  rulers  of  the  Jews,  who  had  taken  such 
great  pains  to  get  the  Messiah  crucified. 

However,  the  great  regard  he  had  for  the  remains  of  his 
Master  made  him  despise  the  malice  of  the  Jews,  being  per- 
suaded that  Omnipotence  would  defend  him. 

Pilate  was  at  first  surprised  at  the  request  of  Joseph, 
thinking  it  highly  improbable  he  was  dead  in  so  short  a 
time.  He  therefore  called  the  centurion,  to  know  the  truth 
of  Avhat  Joseph  had  told  him ;  and  being  convinced,  from 
the  answer  of  that  ofiicer,  that  it  was  even  so,  he  readily 
gave  up  the  body.  * 

The  worthy  counselor  having  obtained  his  request,  're- 
paired to  Mount  Calvary,  and,  being  assisted  by  Nicodemus, 
took  the  body  down  from  the  cross. 

The  latter  was  formerly  so  cautious  in  visiting  Jesus,  that 
he  came  to  him  by  night ;  but  in  paying  the  last  duties  to 
his  Master  he  used  no  art  to  conceal  his  design.  He  showed 
a  courage  far  superior  to  that  of  any  of  the  apostles,  not 
only  assisting  Joseph  in  taking  the  body  down  from  the 
cross,  but  bringing  with  him  a  quantity  of  spices  necessary 
in  the  burial  of  his  Saviour.  Accordingly,  they  wrapped 
the  body,  with  the  spices,  in  fine  linen,  and  laid  it  in  a  new 
sepulchre,  which  Joseph  had  hewn  out  of  a  rock  for  himself 

This  sepulchre  was  situated  in  a  garden  near  Mount  Cal- 
vary, and  in  which  having  carefully  deposited  the  body  of 
Jesus,  they  fastened  the  door  by  rolling  to  it  a  very  large 
stone. 

Oh !  what  a  wonderful  spectacle  was  now  exhibited  in  this 
memorable  sepulchre !  He  who  clothes  himself  with  light, 
as  with  a  garment,  and  walks  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
was  pleased  to  wear  the  habiliments  of  mortality,  and  dwell 
among  the  prostrate  dead  ! 

Who  can  repeat  the  wondrous  truth  too  often  ?  "Who  can 
dwell  upon  the  enchanting  theme  too  long  ?     He  who  sits 


CHRIST.  .   271 

ontlironed  in  glory,  and  diffuses  bliss  among  all  the  heavenly 
host,  was  once  a  pale  and  bloody  corpse,  and  pressed  the 
floor  of  this  little  sepulchre ! 

The  women  of  Galilee,  who  had  watched  their  dear  Re- 
deemer in  his  last  moments,  and  accompanied  his  body  to  the 
sepulchre,  observing  that  the  funeral  rites  were  performed  in 
a  hurry,  agreed  among  themselves,  as  soon  as  the  Sabbath 
was  passed,  to  return  to  the  sepulchre,  and  embalm  the  dead 
body  of  their  Saviour,  by  anointing  and  swathing  him  in 
the  manner  then  common  among  the  Jews. 

Accordingly  they  repaired  to  the  city,  and  purchased  the 
spices  necessary  for  that  purpose, — Nicodemus  having  fur- 
nished only  a  mixture  of  myrrh  and  aloes. 

During  these  transactions,  the  chief  priests  and  Pharisees, 
remembering  that  Jesus  had  more  than  once  predicted  his 
own  resurrection,  came  to  the  governor,  and  informed  him 
of  it,  begging  at  the  same  time  that  a  guard  might  be  placecl 
at  the  sepulchre,  lest  his  disciples  should  carry  away  the  body, 
and  affirm  that  he  was  risen  from  the  dead. 

This  happened  a  little  before  it  was  dark  in  the  evening, 
called  "the  next  day  that  followed,"  by  the  evangelist, 
because  the  Jewish  day  began  at  sunset. 

This  request  being  considered  reasonable  by  Pilate,  he 
gave  them'  leave  to  take  as  many  soldiers  as  they  pleased 
out  of  the  cohort,  which  at  the  feast  came  from  the  castle  of 
Antonia,  and  kept  guard  in  the  porticoes  of  the  temple ;  for 
that  they  were  not  Jewish,  but  Roman  soldiers,  whom  the 
priests  employed  'to  watch  the  sepulchre,  is  evident  from 
their  asking  them  of  the  governor. 

The  priests  having  thus  obtained  a  guard  of  Roman  sol- 
diers, men  long  accustomed  to  military  duties,  and  therefore 
the  most  proper  for  watching  the  body,  set  out  with  them  to 
the  sepulchre ;  and  to  prevent  these  guards  from  combining 
with  the  discij)les  in  carrying  on  any  fraud,  placed  them  at 
their  post,  and  sealed  the  stone  which  was  rolled  to  the  door 
of  the  sepulchre. 

Thus,  what  was  designed  to  expose  the  mission  and  doc- 
trine of  Jesus  as  rank  falsehood  and  vile  imposture,  proved 


272  CHRIST. 

in  fact  the  strongest  confirmation  of  the  truth  and  divinity 
of  the  same,  that  could  possibly  be  given ;  and  placed  what 
they  wanted  to  refute,  which  was  his  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  even  beyond  a  doubt. 

Very  early  in  the  morning  after  the  Sabbath,  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  the  other  Mary  came  to  visit  the  sepulchre,  in  order 
to  embalm  the  Lord's  body;  but  before  they  reached  the 
place,  there  was  a  great  earthquake,  preceding  the  most  mem- 
orable event  that  ever  happened  among  the  children  of  men, 
— the  resurrection  of  the  Son  of  "God  from  the  dead.  "  For 
the  angel  of  the  Lord  descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and 
rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  door,  and  sat  upon  it."  Upon 
this  the  alarmed  soldiers  fled  into  the  city,  and  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  rose  from  the  dead. 

The  angel,  who  had  till  then  sat  upon  the  stone,  quitted 
his  station,  and  entered  into  the  sepulchre. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  women  proceeded  on  their  way, 
consulting  among  themselves  with  regard  to  the  method  of 
putting  their  design  of  embalming  the  body  of  their  Master 
into  execution,  particularly  with  respect  to  the  enormous 
stone  which  they  had  seen  placed  there  two  days  before,  with 
the  utmost  difficulty. 

But  in  the  midst  of  this  deliberation  about  removing  this 
great  and  sole  obstacle  to  their  design,  they  lifted  up  their 
eyes,  and  perceived  that  it  was  already  rolled  away.  Alarmed 
at  so  extraordinary  and  unexpected  a  circumstance,  Mary 
Magdalene  concluded  that  the  stone  could  aot  have  been 
rolled  away  without  some  design,  and  that  those  who  rolled 
it  away  could  have  no  other  intent  than  that  of  removing 
the  Lord's  body. 

Imagining,  by  appearance,  that  they  had  really  done  so, 
she  ran  immediately  to  acquaint  Peter  and  John  with  what 
she  had  seen,  and  what  she  suspected,  leaving  Mary  and 
Salome  there,  that  if  the  other  women  should  arrive  during 
her  absence,  they  might  acquaint  them  with  their  surprise  at 
finding  the  stone  removed,  and  of  Mary  Magdalene's  running 
to  inform  the  apostles  of  it. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  soldiers,  who  were  terrified  at  seeing 


CHRIST.  273 

an  awful  messenger  from  on  higli  roll  away  the  stone  from 
the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  and  open  it  in  quality  of  a  servant, 
fled  into  the  city,  and  informed  the  Jewish  rulers  of  these 
miraculous  appearances. 

This  account  was  highly  mortifying  to  the  chief  priests,  as 
it  was  a  proof  of  our  Saviour's  resurrection  that  could  not 
be  denied ;  they  therefore  resolved  to  stifle  it  immediately, 
and  accordingly  bribed  the  soldiers  to  conceal  the  real  fact, 
and  to  publish  every  where  that  his  disciples  had  stolen  the 
body  away  by  night. 

While  Mary  was  going  to  the  disciples,  those  of  her  com- 
panions whom  she  had  left  continued  advancing  toward  the 
sepulchre,  and  at  their  arrival,  found  what  they  expected — 
the  body  of  their  beloved  Master  gone ;  but  at  the  same  time 
beheld,  to  their  great  astonishment,  a  beautiful  young  man 
in  shining  raiment,  very  glorious  to  behold,  sitting  on  the 
right  side  of  the  sepulchre. 

Notwithstanding  his  beauty  and  benign  appearance,  they 
were  greatly  affrighted,  and  on  the  point  of  turning  back 
when  the  heavenly  messenger,  to  banish  their  fears,  told 
them,  in  a  gentle  accent,  that  he  knew  their  errand.  "Fear 
not,"  said  he,  "  for  I  know  ye  seek  Jesus,  which  was  crucified. 
He  is  not  here  ;  for  he  is  risen,  as  he  said  ;"  and  then  invited 
them  to  come  down,  and  view  the  place  where  the  Son  of 
God  had  lain. 

The  women,  greatly  encouraged  by  the  agreeable  news,  as 
well  as  by  th^.  peculiar  accent  with  which  this  blessed  mes- 
senger from  the  heavenly  Canaan  delivered  his  speech,  went 
down  into  the  sepulchre,  when,  behold,  another  of  the  angelic 
choir  appeared !  who  gently  reproved  them  for  seeking  the 
living  among  the  dead. 

When  the  women  had  satisfied  their  minds  by  looking  at 
the  place  where  the  Lord  had  lain,  the  angel  who  first  ap- 
peared to  them  resumed  the  discourse,  and  bade  them  go  and 
tell  his  disciples,  particularly  Peter,  the  glad  tidings  of  his 
Master's  resurrection  from  the  dead;  that  he  was  going 
before  them  to  Galilee,  and  that  they  should  there  have  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  him. 


274  CHRIST. 

The  women,  biglilj  elated  with  the  news  of  their  Lord's 
resurrection,  left  the  sepulchre,  and  ran  to  carry  the  disciples 
the  joyful  news. 

Mary,  however,  returned  to  the  sepulchre,  to  weep,  and 
while  there,  the  Saviour's  well-known  voice  greeted  her  ear, 
on  which  she  immediately  knew  him,  and,  falling  down 
before  him,  would  have  embraced  his  knees,  according  to 
that  modesty  and  reverence  with  which  the  women  of  the 
East  saluted  the  men,  especially  those  who  were  their  supe- 
riors in  station. 

But  Jesus  refused  this  compliment,  telling  her  that  he  was 
not  immediately  to  ascend  to  heaven. 

He  was  often  to  show  himself  to  the  disciples  before  he 
ascended,  so  that  she  would  have  frequent  opportunities  of 
testifying  her  regard  for  him,  and  at  the  same  time,  said  to 
her, 

"Go  to  my  brethren,  and  say  unto  them,  I  ascend  to  my 
Father  and  your  father,  and  to  my  God  and  your  God." 

Thus  did  the  blessed  Jesus  contemplate  with  a  singular 
pleasure  the  work  of  redemption  he  had  just  finished. 

The  happy  relation  between  God  and  man,  which  had 
long  been  canceled  by  sin,  was  now  renewed. 

The  Almighty,  who  had  disowned  them  on  account  of 
their  disobedience,  Avas  again  reconciled  to  them ;  he  was  to 
become  their  God  and  Father;  they  were  exalted  to  the 
honorable  relation  of  Christ's  brethren  and  the  sons  of  God ; 
and  their  Father  loved  them  with  an  affection  far  exceeding 
that  of  the  most  tender-hearted  parent  upon  earth. 

The  kindness  of  the  message  sent  by  our  Kedeemer  to  his 
disciples  will  appear  above  all  praise,  if  we  remember  their 
late  behavior. 

They  had  every  one  of  them  forsaken  him  in  the  greatest 
extremity ;  when  he  was  scourged  and  mocked  by  the  Eoman 
soldiers,  derided  by  his  countrymen,  and  spitefully  entreated 
by  all,  they  hid  themselves  in  some  place  of  safety,  and  pre- 
ferred their  own  security  to  the  deliverance  of  their  master. 
"When  he  fainted  under  the  burden  of  his  cross,  none  of  them 
were  there  to  assist  him. 


CHRIST. 


275 


But,  notwitlistanding  they  had  refused  to  assist  their  master 
during  his  sufferings  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  he  graciously, 
he  freely  forgave  them;  he  assured  them  of  pardon,  and 
called  them  by  the  endearing  name  of  brethren. 

The  disciples,  having  a  great  desire  to  reach  the  sepulchre, 
soon  left  the  women  behind,  and  just  as  they  arrived,  Mary 
Magdalene,  having  seen  the  Lord,  was  coming  away.  But 
they  did  not  meet  her,  because  they  entered  the  garden  at 
one  door  while  she  was  coming  out  of  another. 

When  they  came  to  the  sepulchre,  they  saw  the  angels, 
and  received  from  them  the  news  of  their  blessed  Master's 
resurrection.  Highly  eJated  with  what  they  saw,  they  de- 
parted, and  ran  back  to  the  city  with  such  expedition,  that 
they  gave  an  account  of  what  they  had  seen  in  the  hearing 
of  the  disciples  before  Mary  Magdalene  arrived. 

Nor  will  their  speed  appear  at  all  incredible,  if  we  consider 
that  the  nature  of  the  tidings  the  apostles  had  to  carry  gave 
them  wings,  as  it  were,  to  make  their  brethren  partakers  of 
their  joy  at  this  surprising  transaction. 

In  the  meantime,  the  company  of  women,  who  followed 
the  disciples,  happened  to  meet  Peter  and  John.  But  they 
had  not  gone  far  from  the  sepulchre,  before  Jesus  himself 
met  them,  and  said,  "  All  hail !"  On  which  they  approached 
their  great  Lord  and  master,  "held  him  by  the  feet,  and 
worshiped  him." 

This  favor  of  embracing  his  knees  Jesus  had  previously 
refused  to  Mary  Magdalene,  because  it  was  not  then  neces 
sary ;  but  he  granted  it  to  the  women,  because  the  angel's 
words  having  strongly  impressed  their  minds  with  the  notion 
of  his  resurrection,  they  might  have  taken  his  appearing  for 
an  illusion  of  their  own  imagination,  had  he  not  permitted 
them  to  touch  him,  and  convince  themselves,  by  the  united 
reports  of  their  senses,  that  he  was  their  Lord,  indeed,  who 
was  risen  from  the  dead,  after  having  suffered  on  the  cross 
for  the  sins  of  mankind. 

Soon  after  the  women's  first  return  to  the  disciples  with 
the  news  that  they  had  seen  the  appearance  of  angels,  who 
told  them  that  Jesus  was  risen  from  the  dead,  two  of  the 


276  CHRIST. 

brethren  departed  on  their  journey  to  a  village  called  Em- 
maus,  about  two  miles  distant  from  Jerusalem. 

The  concern  they  were  in  on  account  of  the  death  of  their 
beloved  Master,  was  sufficiently  visible  in  their  countenances ; 
and  as  they  pursued  their  journey,  talking  with  one  another, 
and  debating  about  the  things  that  had  lately  happened 
among  them,  concerning  the  life  and  doctrine,  the  sufferings 
and  death  of  the  holy  Jesus,  and  of  the  report  that  was  just 
spread  among  his  disciples  of  his  being  that  very  morning 
risen  from  the  dead,  Jesus  himself  overtook  them,  and  joined 
company  with  them. 

As  he  appeared  like  a  stranger,  they  did  not  in  the  least 
suspect  that  their  fellow-traveler  was  no  other  than  the  great 
Redeemer  of  the  sons  of  men.  He  soon  entered  into  dis- 
course with  them,  by  inquiring  what  event  had  so  closely  en- 
gaged them  in  conversation,  apd  why  they  appeared  so  sor- 
rowful and  dejected,  as  if  they  had  met  with  some  heavy 
disappointment. 

One  of  them,  whose  name  was  Cleophas,  being  surprised 
at  the  question  expressed  himself  accordingly,  and  in  answer 
to  an  interrogatory  of  Jesus,  minutely  related  the  circum- 
stances of  the  Saviour's  death,  and  their  feelings  in  connection 
with  it. 

Jesus  rebuked  their  want  of  faith,  and  commencing  at  the 
writings  of  Moses,  he  unfolded  the  Scriptures  with  such 
readiness  and  convincing  clearness  of  argument  as  greatly 
astonished  them. 

When,  therefore,  they  came  to  the  village  whither  they 
were  going,  and  Jesus  seemed  as  if  he  would  have  passed  on 
and  traveled  further,  they,  desirous  of  his  company,  pressed 
him  in  the  strongest  manner  to  tarry  with  them  that  night, 
as  it  was  then  late. 

To  this  request  he  consented;  and  when  they  were  sat 
down  to  supper,  he  took  bread  and  gave  thanks  "to  God,  and 
brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  them,  in  the  same  manner  he  used  to 
do  while  he  conversed  with  them  upon  earth  before  liis 
death.  This  engaged  their  attention,  and,  looking  steadfastly 
on  him,  they  perceived  it  was  their  beloved  master.     But 


CHRIST.  277 

tliey  had  then  no  time  to  express  their  joy  and  astonishment 
to  their  benevolent  Eedeemer,  for  he  immediately  vanished 
out  of  their  sight. 

This  surprising  event  would  not  admit  them  to  stay  any 
longer  in  Emmaus.  They  returned  that  very  night  to  Jeru- 
salem, and  found  the  apostles,  with  several  other  disciples, 
discoursing  about  the  resurrection  of  Jesus;  and,  on  their 
entering  the  room,  the  disciples  accosted  them,  saying,  "  The 
Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  hath  appeared  unto  Simon." 

While  the  two  from  Emmaus  were  describing  the  manner 
of  Jesus  appearing  unto  them,  and  offering  arguments  to 
convince  those  who  doubted  the  truth  of  it,  their  great 
Master  himself  put  an  end  to  the  debates  by  standing  in  the 
midst  of  them,  and  saying,  "  Peace  be  unto  you." 

This  appearance  of  our  blessed  Saviour  greatly  terrified 
the  disciples,  who  supposed  they  had  seen  a  spirit ;  but  to 
dispel  their  fears  and  doubts,  Jesus  came  forward,  and  spoke 
to  them  in  the  most  endearing  manner,  showed  them  his 
hands  and  his  feet,  and  desired  them,  to  handle  him,  in  order 
to  convince  themselves,  by  the  united  powers  of  their  differ- 
ent senses,  that  it  was  he  himself,  and  no  spectre  or  apparition. 
These  infallible  proofs  sufl&ciently  convinced  the  disciples 
of  the  truth  of  their  Lord's  resurrection,  and  they  received 
him  with  rapture  and  exultation. 

Jesus  afterward  appeared  frequently  unto  them,  and  gave 
them  full  satisfaction,  and  instructed  them  in  many  things 
relating  to  their  preaching  the  gospel,  establishing  the  church, 
and  spreading  it  through  the  whole  earth, 

A  few  days  before  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  or  feast  of  weeks, 
the  disciples  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  where  the  blessed  Jesus 
made  his  last  appearance  to  them.  Here  he  put  them  in 
mind  of  all  those  things  written  in  the  law,  the  prophets 
and  psalms,  concerning  him,  which  were  to  be  exactly  ac- 
complished. At  the  same  time,  "he  opened  their  under- 
standings by  divine  illumination  ;"  he  removed  their  preju- 
dices by  the  operation  of  his  spirit,  cleared  their  doubts, 
improved  their  memories,  strengthened  their  judgments,  and 
enabled  them  to  discern  the  true  meaning  of  the  Scriptures. 


278  CHRIST. 

He  next  delivered  unto  them  their  commission  to  preach 
the  doctrine  of  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  in  his  name 
among  all  nations,  and  to  enable  them  to  perform  the  im- 
portant work,  promised  to  bestow  on  them  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  which  he  called  the  promise  of  his  Father, 
because  the  Almighty  had  promised  them  by  his  prophets. 

Having  thus  strengthened  them  for  the  important  work 
they  were  going  to  undertake,  he  led  them  on  to  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  as  far  as  Bethany;  where,  standing  on  a  hill  above 
the  town,  he  told  them  that  he  was  going  to  ascend  to  his 
Father;  for  which  reason  they  might  go  courageously 
through  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  rational 
creature.  "When  the  blessed  Jesus  had  thus  spoken,  he  lifted 
up  his  hands  and  blessed  them.  And  in  the  action  of  bless- 
ing them,  he  was  parted  from  them  in  the  midst  of  the  day, 
a  shining  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight — that  is,  this 
brilliant  cloud  encompassed  him  about,  and  carried  him  up 
to  heaven,  not  suddenly,  but  at  leisure,  that  they  might 
behold  him  departing,  and  see  the  proof  of  his  ascending 
into  heaven,  as  he  had  promised  them. 

The  cloud  in  which  the  Saviour  ascended  was  more  bright 
and  pure  than  the  clearest  lambent  flame,  being,  as  is  sup- 
posed, no  other  than  the  Shechinah,  or  glory  of  the  Lord ! 
the  visible  symbol  of  the  Divine  presence  which  had  so  often 
appeared  to  the  patriarchs  of  old ;  which  filled  the  temple  at 
its  dedication,  and  which,  in  its  greatest  splendor,  can  not  be 
looked  upon  with  mortal  eyes ;  for  which  reason  it  is  called 
the  light  inaccessible.  As  he  ascended,  the  flaming  cloud 
that  surrounded  him,  marked  his  passage  through  the  air,  but 
gradually  lost  its  magnitude  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  stood 
below,  till  at  last  it  vanished,  together  with  their  beloved 
Master,  out  of  their  sight. 

In  this  illustrious  manner  did  the  great  Redeemer  of  man 
kind,  after  having  finished  the  grand  work  which  he  left  the 
bosom  of  his  Father  to  execute;  which  angels  with  joy  de- 
scried was  to  happen,  and  which,  through  eternity  to  come, 
shall,  at  periods  the  most  intensely  distant  from  the  time  of 
its  execution,  be  looked  back  upon  with  inexpressible  delight 


CHRIST.  279 

by  every  inhabitant  of  heaven ;  for  though  the  minute  affairs 
of  time  may  vanish  altogether  and  be  lost,  when  they  are 
removed  far  back  by  the  endless  progression  of  duration,  this 
object  is  one  that  no  distance,  however  great,  can 
lessen. 

The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  erected  on  the  incarnation  and 
sufferings  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  kingdom  and  city  of  the 
Almighty  comprehending  all  the  people  of  God  in  the 
universe,  made  happy  by  goodness  and  love,  and,  therefore, 
none  of  them  can  ever  forget  the  foundation  on  which  their 
happiness  stands  established.  The  human  beings  in  particular, 
recovered  by  the  labor  of  Christ,  will  view  their  deliverer, 
and  look  back  on  his  stupendous  undertaking  with  the 
highest  rapture,  while  they  are  feasting  without  interruption 
on  its  delicious  fruits. 

The  angels  likewise,  the  celestial  inhabitants  of  the  city  of 
God,  will  contemplate  it  with  perpetual  pleasure,  as  the 
happy  means  of  recovering  their  kindred  that  were  lost ;  and 
possibly  the  grand  confirmation  of  the  whole  rational  system, 
in  their  subjection  to  him  who  reigneth  forever,  and  whose 
favor  is  better  than  life  itself. 

Thus  have  we  followed  our  dear  Redeemer  through  all  the 
transactions  of  his  life,  and  enlarged  on  the  stupendous  mir- 
acle of  his  resurrection,  on  which  glorious  event  the  whole 
christian  doctrine  is  founded. 

As  the  similarity  between  Christ  and  the  law-giver,  Moses, 
(whom  the  Divine  Redeemer  mentioned  to  his  disciples  but  a 
short  time  before  his  ascension  into  heaven,)  is  so  very 
remarkable,  we  shall,  as  an  illustration  of  the  glorious  sub- 
ject, point  out  a  few  instances,  which  will  evince  that  the 
prophecies  of  old  were  only  to  be  completed  in  the  sufferings 
and  death  of  Christ. 

Moses  was  the  most  distinguished  of  all  the  prophets,  and 
his  gi-eatest  prophecy  was,  that  of  another  prophet,  to  be 
raised  like  unto  himself  He  was,  at  the  time  of  his  predio 
tion,  about  to  leave  his  people,  and  therefore,  to  give  them 
some  comfort,  he  promised  them  another  prophet.  "The 
Lord  thy  God,"  said  he,  "  will  raise  unto  thee  a  prophet,  from 


280  CHRIST. 

the  midst  of  thee,  of  thy  brethren,  like  unto  me ;  unto  him 
shall  ye  hearken." 

That  this  person,  of  whom  Moses  prophesied,  was  the 
great  Eedeemer,  is  amply  evident;  and  that  Moses  resem- 
bled Christ  in  a  much  greater  degree  than  any  other  person 
ever  did,  will  appear  from  the  following  circumstances : 

Both  Moses  and  Christ  showed  signs  and  wonders,  and  in 
these  respects  none  of  the  ancient  prophets  were  like  unto 
Moses.  None  of  them  were  law-givers;  they  only  inter- 
preted and  enforced  the  laws  of  Moses.  None  of  them  had 
such  clear  communication  with  God ;  they  all  saw  visions, 
and  dreamed  dreams.  Moses  and  Christ  are  the  only  two 
who  perfectly  resembled  each  other  in  these  respects. 

Moses  fled  from  his  country,  to  escape  the  hands  of  the 
king  of  Egypt ;  so  did  Christ,  when  his  parents  went  into 
Egypt.  Afterward,  "  the  Lord  said  unto  Moses  in  Midian, 
Go,  return  into  Egypt,  for  all  men  are  dead  which  sought 
thy  life ;"  so  the  angel  of  the  Lord  said  unto  Joseph,  in 
nearly  the  same  words,  "Arise,  and  take  the  young  child, 
and  go  into  the  land  of  Israel;  for  they  are  dead  which 
sought  the  young  child's  life  ;"  pointing  him  out,  as  it  were, 
for  that  prophet  who  should  arise,  like  unto  Moses. 

Moses  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter, 
choosing  rather  to  suffer  affliction :  Christ  refused  to  be  made 
king,  choosing  rather  to  suffer  the  like. 

Moses,  says  St.  Stephen,  was  learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians ;  and  Josephus  says  that  he  was  a  very  for- 
ward and  accomplished  youth,  and  had  wisdom  and  knowl- 
edge beyond  his  years. 

St.  Luke  observes  of  Christ,  that  he  increased  betimes  in 
vvisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  man ;  and 
his  discourses  in  the  temple  with  the  doctors,  when  he  was 
but  twelve  years  old,  were  a  proof  of  it. 

Moses  was  not  only  a  law-giver,  a  prophet,  and  a  worker 
of  miracles,  but  a  king  and  priest ;  in  all  these  ofi&ces  the 
resemblance  between  Moses  and  Christ  was  singular. 

Moses  brought  darkness  over  the  land ;  the  sun  withdrew 
his  light  at  Christ's  crucifixion ;  and  as  the  darkness  which 


CHRIST.  281 

spread  over  Egypt  was  followed  by  the  destruction  of  their 
first-born,  and  of  Pharaoli  and  his  host,  so  the  darkness  at 
Christ's  death  was  the  forerunner  of  the  destruction  of  the 
Jews. 

Moses  foretold  the  calamities  which  would  befall  the  nation 
for  their  disobedience ;   so  did  Christ. 

The  spirit  which  was  in  Moses  was  conferred  in  some 
degree  upon  the  seventy  elders,  and  they  prophesied  ;  Christ 
conferred  miraculous  powers  on  his  seventy  disciples. 

Moses  was  victorious  over  powerful  kings  and  great  na- 
tions ;  so  was  Christ,  by  the  effects  of  his  religion,  and  by 
the  fall  of  those  who  persecuted  the  church. 

Moses  conquered  Amalek  by  holding  up  both  his  hands ; 
Christ  overcame  his  and  our  enemies,  when  his  hands  were 
fastened  to  the  cross. 

Moses  interceded  for  transgressors,  and  caused  an  atone- 
ment to  be  made  for  them,  and  stopped  the  wrath  of  God ; 
so  did  Christ. 

Moses  ratified  a  covenant  between  God  and  the  people,  by 
sprinkling  them  with  blood ;  Christ  with  his  own  blood. 

Moses  desired  to  die  for  the  people,  and  prayed  that  God 
would  forgive  them,  or  blot  him  out  of  his  book ;  Christ  did 
more,  he  died  for  sinners.  • 

Moses  instituted  the  Passover,  when  a  lamb  was  sacrificed, 
none  of  whose  bones  were  to  be  broken,  and  whose  blood 
protected  the  people  from  destruction ;  Christ  was  the  Pas- 
chal Lamb. 

Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent,  that  they  who  looked  upon 
him  might  be  healed  of  their  mortal  wounds ;  by  properly 
looking  up  to  Christ,  all  will  be  healed. 

All  the  affection  of  Moses  toward  the  people,  all  his  cares 
and  toils  on  their  account,  were  repaid  by  them  with  ingrati- 
tude, murmuring,  and  rebellion  ;  the  same  retui*ns  the  Jews 
made  to  Christ  for  all  his  benefits. 

Moses  was  ill  used  by  his  own  family ;  his  brother  and 
sister  rebelled  against  him :  there  was  a  time  when  Christ's 
own  brethren  believed  not  in  him,  and  his  disciples  forsook 
him. 


282  CHRIST. 

Moses  had  a  very  wicked  and  perverse  generation  com- 
mitted to  his  care  and  conduct ;  and,  to  enable  him  to  rule 
them,  miraculous  powers  were  given  to  him,  and  he  used  his 
utmost  endeavors  to  make  the  people  obedient  to  God,  and 
to  save  them  from  ruin,  but  in  vain ;  in  the  space  of  forty- 
two  years  they  all  fell  in  the  wilderness,  except  two :  Christ 
was  also  given  to  a  generation  not  less  wicked  and  perverse ; 
his  instructions  and  his  miracles  were  lost  upon  most  of 
them,  and  in  about  the  same  space  of  time  after  they  rejected 
him,  they  were  destroyed. 

Moses  was  very  meek,  above  all  the  men  that  were  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth ;  so  was  Christ. 

The  people  could  not  enter  into  the  land  of  promise  till 
Moses  was  dead ;  by  the  death  of  Christ  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  was  open  to  all  believers. 

Moses  enlightened  the  Jews  under  the  dispensation  of  the 
old  law ;  Christ  enlightened  the  Christians  under  the  gospel. 

Moses  did  great  wonders  in  the  land  of  Egypt ;  Christ  did 
great  miracles  in  Judea. 

In  the  deaths  of  Moses  and  Christ  there  is  also  a  resem- 
blance in  some  circumstances :  Moses  died,  in  some  sense,  for 
the  iniquities  of  the  people ;  it  was  their  rebellion  which  was 
the  occasion  of  it,  which  drew  down  the  displeasure  of  God 
upon  them  and  upon  him ;  Moses  went  up,  in  the-  sight  of 
the  people,  to  the  top  of  Mount  Nebo,  and  there  he  died, 
when  he  was  in  perfect  vigor,  when  his  eye  was  not  dim, 
nor  his  natural  force  abated  :  Christ  suffered  for  the  sins  of 
men,  and  was  led  up,  in  the  presence  of  the  people,  to  Mount 
Calvary,  where  he  died  in  the  flower  of  his  age,  and  when 
he  was  in  his  full  natural  strength. 

Moses  died,  in  some  sense,  for  the  iniquities  of  the  people ; 
Christ  suffered  for  the  sins  of  men. 

Neither  Moses  nor  Christ,  as  far  as  we  can  collect  from 
sacred  history,  were  ever  sick,  or  felt  any  bodily  decay  or 
infirmity,  which  would  have  rendered  them  unfit  for  the 
toils  they  underwent ;  their  sufferings  were  of  another  kind. 

Lastly,  as  Moses,  a  little  before  his  death,  promised  another 
Prophet;  so  Christ,  before  his  death,  promised  another  Comforter. 


CHRIST.  283 

Moses,  s'djs  St.  Ambrose,  was  the  figure  of  that  preceptor 
that  was  to  come ;  who  should  preach  the  gospel,  fulfill  the 
Old  Testament,  build  the  New,  and  feed  the  people  with 
celestial  aliment. 

Such  are  the  comparisons  relative  to  the  great  resemblance 
between  Moses  and  Christ ;  but  the  greatest  similitude  con- 
sists in  their  both  being  lawgivers,  which  no  other  prophet 
ever  was. 

They  may  resemble  each  other  in  many  other  circum- 
stances, and  a  fruitful  imagination  may  strike  upon  further 
resemblances ;  but  what  we  have  mentioned  may  suffice. 
And  we  may  ask.  Is  this  similitude  between  Moses  and 
Christ  the  effect  of  mere  chance  ?  Let  us  search  all  the  rec- 
ords of  universal  history,  and  see  if  we  can  find  a  man  who 
was  so  like  to  Christ  as  Moses  was. 

If  we  can  not  find  such  a  one,  then  have  we  "  found  him 
of  whom  Moses,  in  the  law  and  the  prophets,  did  write,  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  the  Son  of  God." 

We  shall  conclude  this  history  with  a  few  observations  on 
the  general  conduct  of  our  blessed  Eedeemer,  during  his 
abode  with  men  on  earth. 

The  human  character  of  the  Saviour,  as  it  results  from  the 
accounts  given  of  him  by  the  evangelists — for  they  have  not 
formally  drawn  it  up — is  entirely  different  from  that  of  all 
other  men  whatsoever ;  for  whereas  they  have  selfish  passions 
deeply  rooted  in  their  breasts,  and  are  influenced  by  them 
in  almost  every  thing  they  do,  Jesus  was  so  entirely  free 
from  them,  that  the  most  severe  scrutiny  can  not  furnish  one 
single  action  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life  wherein  he  con- 
sulted his  own  interest  only.  No;  he  was  influenced  by 
very  different  motives;  the  present  happiness  and  eternal 
welfare  of  sinners  regulated  his  conduct ;  and  while  others 
followed  their  respective  occupations,  Jesus  had  no  other 
business  than  that  of  doing  the  will  of  his  Father,  and 
promoting  the  happiness  of  the  sons  of  men.  Nor  did  he 
wait  till  he  was  solicited  to  extend  his  benevolent  hand  to 
the  distressed. 

He  went  about  doing  good,  and  always  accounted  it  more 


284  CHRIST. 

blessed  to  give  than  to  receive ;  resembling  God  rather  than 
man. 

It  is  common  for  persons  of  the  most  exalted  faculties  to 
be  elated  with  success  and  applause,  or  dejected  by  censure 
and  disappointments;  but  Jesus,  was  never  elated  by  the 
one,  nor  depressed  by  the  other. 

He  was  never  more  courageous  than  when  he  met  with 
the  greatest  opposition  and  cruel  treatment;  nor  more 
humble  than  when  the  sons  of  men  worshipped  at  his  feet. 
He  came  into  the  world  inspired  with  the  grandest  purpose 
that  ever  was  formed,  that  of  saving  from  eternal  perdition,  not 
a  single  nation,  but  the  whole  world ;  and  in  the  execution  of 
it  went  through  the  longest  and  heaviest  train  of  labors  that 
ever  Avas  sustained,  with  a  constancy  and  resolution  on 
which  no  disadvantageous  impression  could  be  made  by  any 
accident  whatever. 

Calumny,  threatenings,  bad  success,  with  many  other  evils 
constantly  attending  him,  served  only  to  quicken  his  en- 
deavors in  this  glorious  enterprise,  which  he  unceasingly 
pursued,  even  till  he  finished  it  by  his  death. 

The  generality  of  mankind  are  prone  to  retaliate 'injuries 
received,  and  all  seem  to  take  a  satisfaction  in  complaining 
of  the  cruelties  of  those  who  oppress  them;  whereas  the 
whole  of  Christ's  labors  breathed  nothing  but  meekness, 
patience,  and  forgiveness, — even  to  his  bitterest  enemies,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  most  excruciating  torments.  The  words 
"  Father,  forgive  them ;  they  know  not  what  they  do,"  uttered 
by  him  when  his  enemies  were  nailing  him  to  the  cross,  fitly 
expresses  the  temper  which  he  maintained  through  the  whole 
course  of  his  life,  even  when  assaulted  by  the  heaviest 
provocations. 

He  was  destined  to  sufferings  here  below,  in  order  that  he 
might  raise  his  people  to  honor,  glory,  and  immortality  in 
the  realms  of  bliss  above,  and,  therefore,  patiently — yea,  joy- 
fully— submitted  to  all  that  the  malice  of  earth  and  hell 
could  inflict. 

He  was  holy,  harmless,  undefiled  and  separate  from 
sinners. 


CHRIST. 


285 


Whether  we  consider  him  as  a  teacher,  or  as  a  man,  "  he 
did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile  found  in  his  mouth." 

His  whole  hfe  was  perfectly  free  from  spot  or  weakness ; 
at  the  same  time  it  was  remarkable  for  the  greatest  and  most 
extensive  exercises  of  purity  and  goodness.  But  never  to 
have  committed  the  least  sin  in  word  or  in  deed,  never  to 
have  uttered  any  sentiment  that  could  be  censured,  upon  the 
various  topics  of  religion  and  morality  which  were  the  daily 
subjects  of  his  discourses,  and  that  through  the  course  of  a 
life  filled  with  action,  and  led  under  the  observation  of  many 
enemies,  who  had  always  access  to  converse  with  him,  and 
who  often  .came  to  find  fault,  is  a  pitch  of  perfection  evi- 
dently above  the  reach  of  human  nature,  and  consequently 
he  who  possessed  it  must  have  been  Divine. 

Jesus,  by  his  death,  hath  set  open  the  gates  of  immortality 
to  the  sons  of  men ;  and  by  his  word,  spirit,  and  example, 
graciously  offers  to  make  them  meet  for  the  glorious  rewards 
in  the  kingdom  of  the  heavenly  Canaan,  and  to  conduct  them 
to  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

Let  us,  therefore,  remember  that  being  born  under  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  gospel,  we  have,  from  our  earliest  years, 
enjoyed  the  best  means  of  securing  to  ourselves  an  interest  in 
that  favor  of  God  which  is  life,  and  that  loving  kindness 
which  is  better  than  life. 

Inflamed,  therefore,  with  the  love  of  immortality  and  its 
joys,  let  us  submit  ourselves  to  our  heavenly  Teacher,  and 
learn  of  hira  those  graces  which  alone  can  render  life 
pleasant,  death  desirable,  and  fill  eternity  with  ecstatic  joys. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

EMPLOYMENT  OF  MATTHEW;    HIS  CALL  TO  FOLLOW  JESUS;    WRITES  HIS 
GOSPEL;   MANNER  OF  HIS  DEATH;    PECULIAR  CHRISTIAN  DECISION. 

JATTHEW,  called  also  Levi,  though  a  Eoinaii 
officer,  was  a  true  Hebrew,  and  probably  a 
Galilean.  His  trade  was  that  of  a'  publican, 
or  tax-gatherer  to  the  Eoraans,  an  office, 
which,  by  the  generality  of  the  Jews,  was 
much  detested. 

The  circumstances  of  his  being  called  to  be  an  apostle, 
were  as  follows :  Our  Saviour  in  one  of  his  retired  walks  by 
the  seaside,  saw  him  sitting  in  his  office,  and  called  him  to 
follow  him.  The  man  was  rich,  had  a  large  and  profitable 
employment,  was  a  wise  and  prudent  person,  and  doubtless 
understood  what  would  be  his  loss  to  comply  with  the  call 
of  Jesus. 

He  was  not  ignorant  that  he  must  exchange  wealth  for 
poverty,  a  custom-house  for  a  prison,  and  rich  and  powerful 
masters  for  a  naked  and  despised  Saviour. 

But  he  overlooked  all  these  considerations,  left  all  his  in- 
terest and  relations,  to  become  our  Lord's  disciple,  and 
embrace  a  more  spiritual  way  of  living. 

After  this  election  to  the  apostolate,  Matthew  continued 
with  the  rest  till  the  ascension  of  his  great  and  beloved 
master ;  but  the  evangelical  writers  have  recorded  nothin'g 
particular  concerning  him  during  that  period. 

For  the  first  eight  years,  at  least,  after  the  Saviour's  ascen- 
sion into  heaven,  he  preached,  in  different  parts  of  Judea; 
but  afterward,  he  left  the  country  of  Palestine,  to  convert  the 
Gentile  world. 

Before  his  departure,  he  was  entreated  by  the  Jewish  con- 
verts to  write  the  history  of  the  life  and  actions  of  the  blessed 


MATTHEW. 


287 


Jesus,  and  leave  it  among  them  as  a  standing  monument  of 
what  he  had  so  often  delivered  to  them  in  his  sermons. 

This  he  readily  complied  with,  and  while  he  abode  in 
Palestine  produced  his  gospel ;  but  at  what  time  is  uncertain ; 
some  believe  it  to  have  been  written  eight,  some  fifteen,  and 
some  thirty  years  after  our  Lord's  ascension.  It  was  first 
written  in  Hebrew ;  but  soon  after  translated  into  Greek  by 
one  of  the  disciples. 

After  the  Greek  translation  was  admitted,  the  Hebrew 
copy  was  chiefly  owned  and  used  by  the  Nazarenes,  a  middle 
sect  between  Jews  and  Christians ;  with  the  former,  they  ad- 
hered to  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  with 
the  latter,  they  believed  in  Christ,  and  embraced  his  religion ; 
and  hence  this  gospel  has  been  styled,  "The  gospel  accord- 
ing to  me  Hebrews,"  and  "  The  Gospel  of  the  Nazarenes." 

After  his  leaving  Judea,  Matthew  traveled  into,  several 
parts,  especially  Ethiopia,  but  the  particular  places  he  visited 
are  not  known  with  any  certainty. 

However,  after  laboring  indefatigably  in  the  vineyard  of 
his  master,  he  suffered  martyrdom  in  a  city  of  Ethiopia, 
called  Naddabar ;  but  by  what  kind  of  death  is  not  absolutely 
known;  though  the  general  opinion  is,  that  he  was  slain 
with  a  halbert. 

Matthew  was  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  power  of  relig- 
ion, in  bringing  men  to  a  better  temper  of  mind. 

If  we  reflect  upon  his  circumstances  while  he  continued  a 
stranger  to  the  great  Eedeemer  of  mankind,  we  shall  find 
that  the  love  of  the  world  had  possessed  his  heart.  But,  not- 
withstanding this,  no  sooner  did  Christ  call  him,  than  he 
abandoned,  without  the  least  scruple  or  hesitation,  all  his 
riches;  "nay,  he  not  only  renounced  his  lucrative  trade,  but 
ran  the  greatest  hazard  of  displeasing  the  masters  who  em- 
ployed him,  for  quitting  their  service  without  giving  them 
the  least  notice,  and  leaving  his  accounts  in  apparent  confusion. 

Had  the  Saviour  appeared  as  a  secular  prince,  clothed  with 
temporal  power  and  authority,  it  would  have  been  no  wonder 
for  him  to  have  gone  over  to  his  service ;  but  when  he  ap- 
peared under  all  the  circurastanc\.s  of  meanness  and  disgrace, 


288 


MARK. 


■when  he  seemed  to  promise  his  followers  nothing  outwardly 
but  misery  and  sufferings  in  this  life,  and  to  propose  no  other 
rewards  than  the  invisible  encouragements  of  another  world, 
his  change  appears  truly  wonderful  and  surprising;  but 
Divine  grace  can  subdue  all  opposition. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

ark  ait!)  ITuk^ 


MAEK'S  DESCENT  FROM  THE  TRIBE  OF  LEVI;    HIS  NUMEROUS  LABORS,  AND 
CRUEL  AND  AGGRAVATED  DEATH.    EARLY  EDUCATION  OF  LUKE; 
VARIED  OPINIONS  AS  TO  HIS  WRITINGS;    FAMILIAR  *u 
INTERCOURSE  WITH  PAUL. 

[AEK  "w  as  descended  from  Jewish  parents,  and 
of  the  tribe  of  Levi.  Nor  was  it  uncommon 
among  the  Jews  to  change  their  names  on 
some  remarkable  revolution,  or  accident  of 
life,  or  when  they  intended  to  travel  into  any 
of  the  European  provinces  of  the  Eoman  empire. 

The  ancients  generally  considered  him  as  one  of  the  sev- 
enty disciples ;  and  Epiphanius  expressly  tells  us  that  he  was 
one  of  those  who,  taking  exception  at  our  Lord's  discourse 
of  "  eating  his  flesh,  and  drinking  his  blood,  went  back,  and 
walked  no  more  with  him." 

But  there  appears  no  manner  of  foundation  for  these  opin- 
ions, nor  likewise  for  that  of  Nicephorus,  who  will  have  him 
to  be  the  son  of  Peter's  sister. 

Eusebius  tells  us  that  Mark  was  sent  into  Egypt  by  Peter, 
to  preach  the  gospel,  and  accordingly  planted  a  church  in 
Alexandria,  the  metropolis  of  it ;  and  his  success  was  so  very 
remarkable,  that  he  converted  multitudes,  both  of  men  and 
women,  persuading  them  not  only  to  embrace  the  christian 
religion,  but  also  a  life  of  more  than  ordinary  strictness. 
Mark  did  not  confine  himself  to  Alexandria,  and  the  oriental 
parts  of  Egypt,  but  remc  ved  westward  to  Lybia,  passing 


MARK.  289 

througli  tlie  countries  of  Marmacia,  Pentapolis,  and  others 
adjacent,  where,  though  the  people  were  both  barbarous  in 
their  manners,  and  idolatrous  in  their  worship,  yet,  by  his 
preaching  and  miracles,  he  prevailed  on  them  to  embrace  the 
tenets  of  the  gospel :  nor  did  he  leave  them  till  he  confirmed 
them  in  the  faith. 

After  this  long  tour,  he  returned  to  Alexandria,  where  he 
preached  with  the  greatest  freedom,  ordered  and  disposed  of 
the  affairs  of  the  church,  and  wisely  provided  for  its  pros- 
perity, by  constituting  governors  and  pastors  of  it.  But  the 
restless  enemy  of  the  souls  of  men  would  not  suffer  this 
apostle  to  continue  in  peace  and  quietness ;  for  while  he  was 
assiduously  laboring  in  the  vineyard  of  his  Master,  the  idol- 
atrous inhabitants,  about  the  time  of  Easter,  when  they  were 
celebrating  the  solemnities  of  Serapis,  tumultuously  entered 
the  church,  forced  Mark,  then  performing  divine  service, 
from  thence,  and,  binding  his  feet  with  cords,  dragged  him 
through  the  streets,  and  over  the  most  craggy  places,  to  the 
Bucelus,  a  precipice  near  the  sea,  leaving  him  there  in  a  lone- 
some prison  for  that  night ;  but  his  great  and  beloved  Master 
appeared  to  him  in  a  vision,  comforting  and  encouraging  his 
soul,  under  the  ruins  of  his  shattered  body. 

The  next  morning  early,  the  tragedy  began  afresh,  for  they 
dragged  him  about  in  the  same  cruel  and  barbarous  manner, 
till  he  expired.  But  their  malice  did  not  end  with  his  death ; 
they  burned  his  mangled  body,  after  they  had  so  inhumanly 
deprived  it  of  life. 

But  the  christians,  after  the  horrid  tragedy  was  over,  gath- 
ered up  his  bones  and  ashes,  and  decently  interred  them  near 
the  place  where  he  used  to  preach. 

His  remains  were  afterward,  with  great  pomp,  removed 
from  Alexandria  to  Venice,  where  they  were  religiously 
honored,  and  he  adopted  as  the  tutelar  saint  and  patron  of 
that  state.  It  is  said  that  he  suffered  martyrdom  on  the  25th 
of  April,  but  the  year  is  not  absolutely  known ;  the  most 
probable  opinion  is,  however,  that  it  happened  about  the  end 
of  Nero's  reign. 

His  gospel,  the  only  writing  he  left  behind  him,  was 

19 


290  LUKE. 

written  at  tlie  entreaty  and  earnest  desire  of  the  converts  at 
Rome,  who,  not  content  with  having  heard  Peter  preach, 
pressed  Mark,  his  fellow  disciple,  to  commit  to  writing  an 
historical  account  of  what  he  had  delivered  to  them,  which 
he  performed  with  equal  faithfulness  and  brevity ;  and,  being 
perused  and  approved  by  Peter,  was  commanded  to  bo  pub- 
licly read  in  their  assemblies.  It  was  frequently  styled 
"  Peter's  gospel,"  not  because  he  dictated  it  to  Mj.yk,  but 
because  the  latter  composed  it  in  the  same  manner  a?,  Peter 
usually  delivered  his  discourses  to  the  people.  A  m)  this  is 
probably  the  reason  of  what  Chrysostom  observes,  that  in 
his  style  of  expression  he  delights  to  imitate  Peter,  repre- 
senting a  great  deal  in  a  few  words. 

The  remarkable  impartiality  he  observes  in  all  his  relations 
is  plain,  and  hence,  so  far  from  concealing* the  shameful  lapse 
and  denial  of  Peter,  he  describes  it  with  more  aggravating 
circumstances  than  any  other  evangelist. 

Luke,  also  a  disciple  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  was  born  at 
Antioch,  the  metropolis  of  Syria,  a  city  celebrated  for  the 
pleasantness  of  its  situation,  the  fertility  of  its  soil,  the  riches 
of  its  commerce,  the  wisdom  of  its  Senate,  and  the  civility 
and  politeness  of  its  inhabitants,  by  the  pens  of  some  of  the 
greatest  writers  of  those  times. 

It  was  eminent  for  schools  of  learning,  which  produced 
the  most  renowned  masters  in  the  arts  and  sciences ;  so  that 
being  born,  as  it  were,  in  the  lap  of  the  muses,  he  could  not 
well  fail  of  acquiring  an  ingenious  and  liberal  education. 

But  he  was  not  contented  with  the  learning  of  his  own 
country ;  he  traveled  for  improvement  into  several  parts  of 
Greece  and  Egypt,  and  became  particularly  skilled  in  physic, 
which  he  made  his  profession. 

But  those  who  would,  from  this  particular,  infer  the  qual- 
ity of  his  birth  and  fortune,  forget  that  the  healing  art  was 
in  those  early  times,  generally  practiced  by  servants ;  and 
hence  Grotius  is  of  opinion  that  Liike  was  carried  to  Rome, 
and  lived  there  as  servant  to  some  noble  family,  in  quality 
of  physician;  but  after  obtaining  his  freedom,  he  returned 


LUKE.  291 

into  his  own  country,  and  pT-obably  continued  Ms  profession 
till  liis  death,  it  being  so  highly  consistent  with,  and  in  many 
cases  subservient  to,  the  care  of  souls. 

He  was  also  famous  for  his  skill  in  another  art — namely, 
painting ;  and  an  ancient  inscription,  found  in  a  vault  near 
the  church  of  Maria  de  Yia  Leata,  at  Eome,  supposed  to  have 
been  the  place  where  Paul  dwelt,  mentions  a  picture  of  the 
blessed  virgin :  Una  ex  YII.  ab  Luca  depictis^  being  one  of 
the  seven  painted  by  Luke. 

Luke  was  a  Jewish  proselyte ;  but  at  what  time  he  became 
a  christian  is  uncertain.  It  is  the  opinion  of  some,  from  the 
introduction  to  his  gospel,  that  he  had  the  facts  from  the 
reports  of  others,  who  were  eye-witnesses,  and  suppose  him 
to  have  been  converted  by  Paul ;  and  that  he  learned  the 
history  of  his  gospel  from  the  conversation  of  that  apostle, 
and  wrote  it  under  his  direction ;  and  that  when  Paul,  in 
one  of  his  epistles,  says,  "  according  to  my  gospel,"  he  means 
this  of  Luke,  which  he  styled  Ids  from  the  great  share  he 
had  in  the  composition  of  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  who  hold  that  he  wrote  his  gos- 
pel from  his  own  personal  knowledge,  observe  that  he  could 
not  receive  it  from  Paul,  as  an  eye-witness  of  the  matters 
contained  in  it,  because  all  those  matters  were  transacted 
before  his  conversion ;  and  that  he  never  saw  our  Lord 
before  he  appeared  to  him  in  his  journey  to  Damascus,  which 
was  some  time  after  he  ascended  into  heaven. 

Consequently,  v/hen  Paul  says,  "  according  to  my  gospel," 
he  means  no  more  than  that  gospel  in  general  which  he 
preached;  the  whole  preaching  of  .the  apostles  being  styled 
the  gospel.  But,  however  this  be,  Luke  became  the  insep- 
arable companion  of  Paul  in  all  his  travels,  and  his  constant 
fellow-laborer  in  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

This  infinitely  endeared  him  to  that  apostle,  who  seems 
delighted  with  owning  him  for  his  fellow-laborer,  and  in 
calling  him  the  "beloved  physician,"  and  the  "brother  whose 
praise  is  in  the  gospel." 

Luke  wrote  two  books  for  the  use  of  the  church,  his  gospel, 
and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles ;  both  of  which  he  dedicated  to 


< 


292  LUKE. 

Theophilus,  whicli  many  of  tlie  ancients  suppose  to  be  a 
feigned  name,  denoting  a  lover  of  God — a  title  common  to  all 
sincere  christians. 

But  others  think  it  was  a  real  person,  because  the  title  of 
"Most  Excellent"  is  attributed  to  him;  the  usual  title  and 
form  of  address  in  those  times  to  princes  and  great  men. 

His  gospel  contains  the  principal  transactions  of  our  Lord's 
life ;  and  the  particulars  omitted  by  him,  are,  in  general,  of 
less  importance  than  those  of  the  other  evangelists. 

With  regard  to  the  Acts  of  thfe  Apostles,  written  by  Luke, 
the  work  was  no  doubt  performed  at  Eome,  about  the  time 
of  Paul's  imprisonment  there,  with  which  he  concludes  the 
story.  It  contains  the  actions,  and  sometimes  the  sufferings 
of  the  principal  apostles,  especially  Paul,  whose  activity  in 
the  cause  of  Christ  made  him  bear  a  great  part  in  the  labors 
of  his  Master ;  and  Luke  being  his  constant  attendant,  an 
eye-witness  of  the  whole  carriage  of  his  life,  and  privy  to  his 
most  intimate  transactions,  was  consequently  capable  of 
giving  a  more  full  and  satisfactory  account  of  them.  Among 
other  things,  he  enumerates  the  great  miracles  the  apostles 
did  in  confirmation  of  their  doctine. 

In  both  these  treatises  his  manner  of  writing  is  exact  and 
accurate,  his  style  noble  and  elegant,  sublime  and  lofty, 
yet  clear  and  perspicuous,  flowing  with  an  easy  and  natural 
grace  and  sweetness,  admirably  adapted  to  a  historical 
narrative.  In  short,  as  a  historian,  he  was  faithful  in  his 
relations,  and  elegant  in  his  writings ;  as  a  minister,  careful 
and  diligent  for  the  good  of  souls ;  as  a  christian,  devout  and 
pious ;  and,  to  crown  all  the  rest,  laid  down  his  life  in  testi- 
mony of  the  gospel  he  had  both  preached  and  published  to 
the  world, 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

PECULIAR  HONOR  CONFERRED  UPON  JOHN  BY  THE  SAYIOUR;    SCENES  OF  HIS 

LABOR;    HIS  CRUEL  TREATMENT  BY  DOMITIAN;    DEATH  AT  AN 

ADVANCED  AGE;    HIS  ADMIRABLE  GRACES  OF  CHARACTER. 

[  ROM  the  very  minute  and  circumstantial  account 
this  evangehst  gives  of  John  the  Baptist,  he  is 
supposed  to  have  been  one  of.  his  followers,  and 
is  thought  to  be  that  other  disciple,  who,  in  the 
first  chapter  of  his  gospel,  is  said  to  have  been 
present  with  Andrew  when  John  declared  Jesus  to  be  the 
"  Lamb  of  God,"  and  thereupon  to  have  followed  him  to  the 
place  of  his  abode. 

He  was  by  much  the  youngest  of  the  apostles,  yet  he  was 
admitted  to  as  great  a  share  of  his  Master's  confidence  as  any 
of  them.  He  was  one  of  those  to  whom  he  communicated 
the  most  private  transactions  of  his  life ;  one  of  those  he  took 
with  him  when  he  raised  the  daughter  of  Jairus  from  the 
dead ;  one  of  those  to  whom  he  displayed  a  specimen  of  his 
divinity,  in  his  transfiguration  on  the  Mount ;  one  of  those 
who  were  present  at  his  conference  with  Moses  and  Elias, 
and  heard  that  voice  which  declared  him  the  beloved  Son  of 
God ;  and  one  of  those  who  were  companions  in  his  solitude, 
most  retired  devotions,  and  bitter  agonies  in  the  garden. 

These  instances  of  particular  favor  our  apostle  endeavored 
in  some  measure  to  answer,  by  returns  of  particular  kindness 
and  constancy ;  for  though  he  at  first  deserted  his  master  on 
his  apprehension,  yet  he  soon  recovered  himself,  and  came 
back  to  see  his  Saviour,  confidently  entered  the  high-priests' 
hall,  followed  our  Lord  through  the  several  particulars  of  his 
trial-,  and  at  last  waited  on  him  at  his  execution,  owning  him, 
as  well  as  being  owned  by  him,  in  the  midst  of  armed 
soldiers,  and  in  the  thickest  crowds  of  his  most  inveterate 
enemies. 


294  JOHN    THE    E.VANGELIST. 

Here  it  wns  that  our  great  Eedeemer  committed  to  his  care 
his  sorrowful  and  disconsolate  mother,  with  his  dying 
breath  ;  and  certainly  the  holy  Jesus  could  not  have  given  a 
more  honorable  testimony  of  his  particular  respect  and  kind- 
ness to  John,  than  by  leaving  his  own  mother  to  his  trust 
and  care,  and  substituting  him  to  supply  that  duty  he  him- 
self paid  her  while  he  resided  in  this  vale  of  sorrow. 

After  the  ascension  of  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  when  tho 
apostles  made  a  division  of  the  provinces  among  themselves, 
that  of  Asia  fell  to  the  share  of  John,  though  he  did  not 
immediately  enter  upon  his  charge,  but  continued  at  Jerusa- 
lem till  the  death  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,  which  might  be 
about  fifteen  years  after  his  ascension. 

Being  released  from  the  trust  committed  to  his  care,  by 
his  dying  Master,  he  retired  into  Asia,  and  industriously  ap- 
plied himself  to  the  propagation  of  Christianity,  preaching 
where  the  gospel  had  not  as  yet  been  known,  and  confirming 
it  where  it  was  already  planted. 

Many  churches  of  note  and  eminence  were  founded  by 
him,  particularly  those  of  Smyrna,  Pergamus,  Thyatira, 
Sardis,  Philadelphia,  Laodicea,  and  others;  but  his  chief 
place  of  residence  was  at  Ephesus,  where  Paul  had,  many 
years  before,  founded  a  church,  and  constituted  Timothy 
bishop  of  it. 

After  spending  several  years  at  Ephesus,  he  was  accused 
to  Domitian,  who  had  begun  a  persecution  against  the 
christians,  as  an  eminent  asserter  of  atheism  and  impiety, 
and  a  public  subverter  of  the  religion  of  the  empire ;  so  that 
by  his  command  the  pro-consul  sent  him  bound  to  Rome, 
where  he  met  with  the  treatment  that  might  have  been 
expected  from  so  barbarous  a  prince,  being  thrown  into  a 
cauldron  of  boiling  oil.  But  the  Almighty,  who  reserved 
him  for  further  services  in  the  vineyard  of  his  Son,  restrained 
the  heat,  as  he  did  in  the  fiery  furnace  of  old,  and  delivered 
him  from  this  seemingly  unavoidable  destruction. 

And  surely  one  would  have  thought  that  so  miraculous  a 
deliverance  should  have  been  sufficient  to  have  persuaded 
any  rational  man  that  the  religion  he  taught  was  from  God, 


296  JOHN    THE    EVANGELIST. 

lie  assumes,  and  probably  in  regard  to  his  age  as  mucb  as  his 
office.  In  his  gospel,  when  he  speaks  of  "  the  disciple  whom 
Jesus  loved,"  he  constantly  conceals  his  own  name,  leaving 
the  reader  to  discover  whom  he  meant. 

Before  he  undertook  the  task  of  writing  his  gospel  he 
caused  a  general  fast  to  be  kept  by  all  the  Asiatic  churches, 
to  implore  the  blessing  of  heaven  on  so  great  and  momentous 
an  undertaking. 

When  this  w?is  done,  he  set  about  the  work,  and  completed 
it  in  so  excellent  and  sublime  a  manner,  that  the  ancients 
generally  compared  him  to  an  eagle  soaring  aloft  among  the 
clouds,  whither  the  weak  eye  of  man  was  not  able  to  follow 
him. 

"Among  all  the  evangelical  writers,"  says  Basil,  "none 
are  like  John,  the  son  of  thunder,  for  the  sublimity  of  his 
speech,  and  the  height  of  his  discourses  which  are  beyond 
any  man's  capacity  fully  to  reach  and  comprehend." 

"John,  as  a  true  son  of  thunder,"  says  Epiphanius,  "by  a 
loftiness  of  speech  peculiar  to  himself,  acquaints  us,  as  it 
were,  out  of  the  clouds  and  dark  recesses  of  wisdom,  with  the 
Divine  doctrine  of  the  Son  of  God." 

Such  is  the  character  given  of  the  writings  of  this  great 
apostle  and  evangelist,  who  was  honored  with  the  endearing 
title  of  being  the  beloved  disciple  of  the  Son  of  God — a 
writer  so  profound  as  to  deserve,  by  way  of  eminence,  the 
character  of  John  the  Divine. 


Y^ 


?*T 


ivaeun 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

DETOTIONOP  THOMAS  TO  CHRIST;    MEETING  AETER  HIS  EESUREECIION; 
PERSECUTION  TO  DEATH  FOR  HIS  RIGHTEOUS  LABORS. 

VANGELICAL  history  is  entirely  silent  witli 
regard  to  either  the  country  or  kindred  of 
Thomas.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  he  was  a 
Jew,  and  in  all  probability  a  Galilean.  He  was, 
together  with  the  rest,  called  to  the  apostleship, 
and  not  long  after  gave  an  eminent  instance  of  his  being 
ready  to  undergo  the  most  melancholy  fate  that  might  attend 
him.  For  when  the  rest  of  the  apostles  'dissuaded  their 
Master  from  going  into  Judea,  at  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Lazarus,  because  the  Jews  lately  endeavored  to  stone  him, 
Thomas  desired  them  not  to  hinder  his  journey  thither, 
though  it  might  cost  them  all  their  lives.  "Let  us  go,"  said 
he,  "  that  we  may  die  with  him ;"  concluding  that,  instead  of 
Lazarus  being  raised  from  the  dead,  they  should  all,  like  him, 
be  placed  in  the  chambers  of  the  dust. 

After  the  disciples  had  seen  their  .great  Master  expire  on 
the  cross,  their  minds  were  distracted  by  hopes  and  fears 
concerning  his  resurrection,  about  which  they  were  not  then 
fully  satisfied,  which  engaged  him  the  sooner  to  make  his 
appearance,  that,  by  the  sensible  manifestations  of  himself, 
he  might  put  the  matter  beyond  all  possibility  of  doubt. 
Accordingly,  the  very  day  in  which  he  arose  from  the  dead, 
he  came  into  the  house  where  they  were  assembled,  while, 
for  fear  of  the  Jews,  the  doors  about  them  were  close  shut, 
and  gave  them  sufficient  assurance  that  he  was  risen  from  the 
dead. 

At  this  meeting  Thomas  was  absent,  having  never  proba- 
bly rejoined  their  company  since  their  dispersion  in  the  gar- 
den, where  every  one's  fears  prompted  him  to  consult  his  own 


298 


THOMAS. 


safety.  At  his  return  they  told  him  that  the  Lord  had  ap- 
peared to  them ;  but  he  obstinately  refused  to  give  credit  to 
what  they  said,  or  to  believe  that  it  was  really  he,  presuming 
it  rather  a  spectre,  or  apparition,  unless  he  might  see  the  very 
print  of  the  nails,  and  feel  the  wounds  in  his  hands  and  side. 

Our  compassionate  Saviour  would  not  take  the  least  notice 
of  his  perverse  obstinacy,  but  on  that  day  seven-night  came 
again  to  them,  as  they  were  solemnly  met  at  their  devotions ; 
and,  calling  to  Thomas,  bade  him  look  upon  his  hands,  put 
his  fingers  into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  his  hand  into 
his  side,  to  satisfy  his  faith  by  a  demonstration  from  his  senses. 
Thomas  was  soon  convinced  of  his  error  and  obstinacy,  con- 
fessing that  he  now  acknowledged  him  to  be  his  Lord  and 
Master,  saying,  "My  Lord  and  my  God."  Our  Lord  an- 
swered that  it  was  happy  for  him  that  he  believed  the  testi- 
mony of  his  own  senses ;  but  that  it  would  have  been  more 
commendable  in  him  to  have  believed  without  seeing,  because 
it  was  foretold  that  the  Son  of  God  should  burst  the  chains 
of  death,  and  rise  again  from  the  dead, 

Thomas,  as  well  as  the  rest,  labored  in  the  cause  of  his 
Divine  Master,  after  the  ascension  of  Christ,  at  first  in  Judea ; 
and  after  the  dispersion  of  the  christian  church  in  Jerusalem, 
repaired  into  Parthia,  the  province  assigned  him  for  his 
ministry. 

After  which,  as  Sempronius  and  others  inform  us,  he 
preached  the  gospel  to  the  Medes,  Persians,  Carminians, 
H3^rcanians,  Bactarians,  and  the  neighboring  nations. 

During  his  preaching  in  Persia,  he  is  said  to  have  met 
with  the  magi,  or  wise  men,  who  had  taken  that  long  journey 
at  our  Saviour's  birth  to  worship  him,  whom  he  baptized, 
and  took  with  him  as  his  companions  and  assistants  in 
propagating  the  gospel. 

Leaving  Persia,  he  traveled  into  Ethiopia,  preaching  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  gospel,  healing  their  sick,  and  working 
other  miracles,  to  prove  he  had  his  commission  from  on 
high ;  and  after  traveling  through  these  countries,  he  entered 
India. 

When  the  Portuguese  first  visited  these  countries,  after 


THOMAS. 


299 


their  discovery  of  a  passage  by  tlie  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  tliey 
received  the  following  particulars,  partly  from  constant  and 
uncontroverted  traditions,  preserved  by  the  christians  in 
those  parts :  namely,  that  Thomas  came  first  to  Locotora,  an 
island  in  the  Arabian  Sea,  and  thence  to  Cranganor,  where, 
having  converted  many  from  the  error  of  their  ways,  he 
traveled  further  into  the  East;  and  having  successfully 
preached  the  gospel,  returned  back  into  the  kingdom  of  Cor- 
omandel,  where,  at  Meliapur,  the  metropolis  of  the  kingdom, 
not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges,  he  began  to  erect  a 
place  for  Divine  worship,  till  prohibited  by  the  idolatrous 
priests  and  Sagamo,  prince  of  that  country. 

But  after  performing  several  miracles,  the  work  was 
suffered  to  proceed,  and  Sagamo  himself  embraced  the 
christian  faith,  whose  example  was  soon  followed  by  great 
numbers  of  his  friends  and  subjects. 

This  remarkable  success  alarmed  the  Brahmins,  who 
plainly  perceived  that  their  religion  would  be  soon  extirpated, 
unless  some  method  could  be  found  of  putting  a  stop  to  the 
progress  of  Christianity,  and  therefore  resolved  to  put  the 
apostle  to  death. 

At  a  small  distance  from  the  city  was  a  tomb,  whither 
Thomas  retired  often,  for  private  devotion.  Hither  the 
Brahmins  and  their  armed  followers  pursued  him,  and,  while 
he  was  at  prayer,  they  first  shot  at  him  a  shower  of  darts ; 
after  which,  one  of  the  priests  ran  'him  through  with  a  lance. 

His  body  was  taken  up  by  his  disciples,  and  buried  in  the 
church  he  had  lately  erected,  and  which  was  afterward  im- 
proved into  a  fabric  of  great  magnificence. 

St.  Chrysostom  says  that  Thomas,  who  at  first  was  the 
weakest  and  most  incredulous  of  the  apostles,  became,  through 
Christ's  condescending  to  satisfy  his  scruples  and  the  power 
of  the  Divine  grace,  the  most  active  and  invincible  of  them 
all ;  traveling  over  most  parts  of  the  world,  and  living  with- 
out fear  in  the  midst  of  barbarous  nations ;  through  the  effi- 
cacy of  that  Almighty  arm,  which  can  give  power  to  the  faint, 
and  to  them  that  have  no  might,  and  thus  make  the  weakest 
vessels  to  perform  acts  of  the  greatest  difficulty  and  moment. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HIS  PARENTAGE;    CALL  TO  PREACH  THE  GOSPEL;    CRUEL  TREATMENT  OP 
THE  JEWS  AGAINST  HIM;    HIS  MARTYRDOM. 

j  HIS  apostle  was  born  at  Bethsaida,  .a  city  of  Gal- 
ilee, built  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  of  Gennesa- 
reth,  and  was  son  to  John  or  Jonas,  a  fisherman 
of  that  town.  He  was  brother  to  Simon  Peter, 
but  whether  older  or  younger  is  not  certainly 
known,  though  the  generality  of  the  ancients  intimate  that 
he  was  the  younger.  He  was  brought  up  to  his  father's 
trade,  at  which  he  labored  till  our  blessed  Saviour  called  him 
to  be  a  fisher  of  men,  for  which  he  was,  by  some  preparatory 
institutions,  qualified  even  before  the  appearance  of  the 
Messiah. 

He  seems  not  to  have  remained  with  Jesus  at  his  first  call, 
but  something  more  than  a  year  after,  as  Jesus  was  passing 
through  Galilee,  he  found  Andrew  and  Peter,  fishing  on  the 
sea,  where  he  fully  satisfied  them  of  the  greatness  and  divinity 
of  his  person  by  a  miraculous  draught  of  fishes  which  they 
took  at  his  command.  He  now  told  them  that  they  should 
enter  on  a  different  series  of  labors,  and  instead  of  fish,  they 
should,  by  the  efficacy  and  influence  of  their  doctrine  upon 
the  heart  and  conscience,  catch  men, — commanding  them  to 
follow  him  as  his  immediate  disciples  and  attendants ;  and 
accordingly  they  left  all  and  followed  him. 

After  the  ascension  of  the  blessed  Jesus  into  heaven,  and 
the  descension  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on  the  apostles,  to  qualify 
them  for  their  great  undertaking,  Andrew,  according  to  the 
generality  of  ancient  writers,  was  chosen  to  preach  the  gospel 
in  Scythia  and  the  neighboring  countries. 

Accordingly  he  visited  very  many  places,  preaching  the 
gospel  of  Christ,  in  all  of  which  he  met  with  the  greatest 


ANDREW.  301 

difficulties,  but  overcame  them  all  by  invincible  patience  and 
resolution. 

At  length  he  came  to  Sinope,  a  city  situated  on  the  same 
sea,  and  famous  both  for  the  birth  and  burial  of  king 
Mithridates. 

Here  he  met  with  his  brother  Peter,  and  staid  with  him  a 
considerable  time.  The  inhabitants  of  the  place  were  mostly 
Jews,  who,  partly  from  a  zeal  for  their  religion,  and  partly 
from  their  barbarous  manners,  were  exasperated  against 
Andrew,  and  entered  into  a  confederacy  to  burn  the  house  in 
which  he  lodged.  -But  being  disappointed  in  their  design, 
they  treated  him  with  the  most  savage  cruelty,  throwing  him 
on  the  ground,  stamping  upon  him  with  their  feet,  pulling 
and  dragging  him  from  place  to  place;  some  beating  him 
with  clubs,  some  pelting  him  with  stones,  and  others,  to  sat- 
isfy their  brutal  revenge,  biting  off  his  flesh  with  their  teeth  ; 
till,  apprehending  they  had  entirely  deprived  him  of  life, 
they  cast  him  out  into  the  fields. 

But  he  miraculously  recovered,  and  returned  publicly  into 
the  city ;  by  which,  and  other  miracles  he  wrought  among 
them,  many  were  converted  from  the  error  of  their  ways, 
and  induced  to  become  disciples  of  Jesus. 

Departing  from  Sinope,  he  returned  to  Jerusalem ;  but  he 
did  not  long  continue  in  his  native  country ;  returning  again 
to  the  province  allotted  him  for  the  exercise  of  his  ministry, 
which  greatly  flourished  through  the  power  of  the  Divine 
grace  that  attended  it. 

At  last  he  came  to  Peatrea,  a  city  of  Achai,  where  he  gave 
his  last  and  greatest  testimony  to  the  gospel  of  his  Divine  mas- 
ter, sealing  it  with  his  blood. 

J^genas,  pro-consul  of  Achai,  being  at  the  place,  was 
greatly  indignant  that  so  many  embraced  the  religion  which 
Andrew  preached,  and  finally,  after  treating  him  with  very 
opprobious  language,  and  showing  him  the  most  distinguished 
marks  of  contempt,  he  passed  sentence  on  him  that  he  should 
be  put  to  death.  He  first  ordered  him  to  be  scourged,  even 
lictors  successively  whipping  his  naked  body ;  and,  seeing 
his  invincible  patience  and  constancy,  commanded  him  to  be 


302 


ANDREW. 


crucified ;  but  to  be  fastened  to  the  cross  witli  cords  instead 
of  nails,  that  his  death  might  be  more  lingering  and  tedious. 

As  he  was  led  to  the  place  of  execution,  walking  with  a 
cheerful  and  composed  mind,  the  people  cried  out,  that  a 
good  and  innocent  man  was  unjustly  condemned  to  die. 

On  his  coming  near  the  cross,  he  saluted  it  in  the  following 
manner :  "  I  have  long  desired  and  expected  this  happy  hour. 
The  cross  has  been  consecrated  by  the  body  of  Christ  hang- 
ing upon  it,  and  adorned  with  his  members,  as  with  so  many 
inestimable  jewels. 

"I  therefore  come  joyfally  and  triumphantly  to  it,  that  it 
may  receive  me  as  a  disciple  and  follower  of  him  who  once 
hung  upon  it,  and  be  the  means  of  carrying  me  safe  to  my 
Master,  being  the  instrument  on  which  he  redeemed  me."* 

After  offering  up  his  prayers  at  the  throne  of  Grace,  and 
exhorting  the  people  to  constancy  and  perseverance  in  the 
faith  he  had  delivered  to  them,  he  was  fastened  to  the  cross, 
on  which  he  hung  two  whole  days,  teaching  and  instructing 
Ihe  people. 

In  the  meantime,  great  interest  was  made  to  the  pro- 
consul to  spare  his  life ;  but  the  apostle  earnestly  begged  of  the 
Almighty  that  he  might  now  depart,  and  seal  the  truth  of  his 
religion  with  his  blood.  His  prayers  were  heard,  and  he  ex- 
pired, it  is  said,  on  the  last  day  of  November,  but  in  what 
year  is  uncertain. 

There  seems  to  have  been  something  peculiar  in  the  form 
of  the  cross  on  which  he  suffered,  and  it  is  commonly  thought 
to  have  been  a  cross  decuscate,  or  two  pieces  of  timber 
crossing  each  other  in  the  centre,  in  the  form  of  the  letter  X, 
and  hence  usually  known  by  the  name  of  St.  Andrew's  cross. 

His  body  being  taken  down  from  the  cross,  was  decently 
and  honorably  interred  by  Maximilia,  a  lady  of  great  quality 
and  estate,  and  who,  Nicephorus  tells  us,  was  wife  to  the 
pro-consul. 

Constantine  the  Great,  afterward  removed  his  body  to 
Constantinople,  and  buried  it  in  the  great  church  he  had 
built  to  the  honor  of  the  apostles ;  but  this  structure  being 
taken  down  some  hundred  years  after,  in  order  to  rebuild  it. 


PHILIP.  303 

by  Justinian  the  emperor,  the  body  of  Andrew  was  found  in 
a  wooden  coffin,  and  again  deposited  in  its  proper  place. 


CHAPTER  m. 

SUPERIOR  EDUCATION  OF  PHILIP;  HIS  LABORS  IN  TURNING  MEN  FROII  THEIR 
IDOLS  TO  CHRIST ;  HIS  CRUEL  DEATH. 


HIS  apostle  was  a  native  of  Bethsaida,  the  city  of 
Andrew  and  Peter,  and  was  honored  in  being 
first  called  to  be  a  disciple  of  the  great  Messiah. 
Though  he  was  a  native  of  Galilee,  it  can  not  be 
doubted  that  he  Avas  excellently  skilled  in  the 
law  and  the  prophets.  Metaphrastes  assures  us  that  he  had, 
from  his  childhood,  been  excellently  educated ;  that  he  fre- 
quently read  over  the  books  of  Moses,  and  attentively  con- 
sidered the  prophecies  relating  to  the  coming  of  the  Messiah. 

Nor  was  he  idle  after  the  honor  he  had  received  of  being 
called  to  attend  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  he  immediately 
imparted  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Messiah's  apj^earance  to  his 
brother  Nathaniel,  and  conducted  him  to  his  beloved  Saviour. 

After  his  being  called  to  the  apostolate  we  have  very  little 
recorded  of  him  by  the  evangelists.  It  was,  however,  to  him 
that  our  Saviour  proposed  the  question,  as  to  where  they 
should  find  bread  suflicient  to  satisfy  the  hunger  of  so  great 
a  multitude. 

It  was  also  to  the  same  apostle  that  the  Gentile  proselytes, 
who  came  up  to  worship  at  Jerusalem,  applied,  when  they 
were  desirous  of  seeing  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

And  it  was  with  him  our  Lord  had  the  discourse  a  little 
before  the  Paschal  Supper,  recorded  by  John. 

The  compassionate  Jesus  had  been  fortifying  their  minds 
with  proper  considerations  against  his  departure  from  them, 
and  had  told  them  that  he  was  going  to  prepare  for  them  a 
place  in  the  mansions  of  the  heavenly  Canaan ;  that  he  was 


304  PHILIP. 

"  the  way,  tlie  truth,  and  the  life ;"  that  "  no  man  could 
come  unto  the  Father  but  by  him ;"  Philip,  not  thoroughly 
understanding  the  force  of  his  Master's  reasoning,  begged  of 
him  that  he  would  show  them  the  Father.  Our  Lord 
gently  reproved  him,  for  not  recognizing  in  him  the  Father's 
image ;  and  gave  him  to  understand  that  it  was  an  indication 
of  great  weakness  in  him,  after  three  years'  education  under 
his  discipline  and  instruction,  to  appear'  so  ignorant  with  re- 
gard to  these  particulars. 

In  the  distribution  made  by  the  apostles  of  the  several  re- 
gions of  the  world,  the  ancients  tell  us  that  Upper  Asia  fell 
to. his  share,  where  he  ls|i!.ored  with  an  indefatigable  diligence 
and  industry.  By  the  constascy  and  power  of  his  preaching, 
and  the  eflicacy  of  his  miracles^  he  gained  numerous  converts, 
whom  he  baptized  into  the  christian  faith,  curing  at  once 
their  bodies  of  infirmities  and  distempers,  and  their  souls  of 
error  and  idolatry.  He  continued  with  them  a  considerable . 
time  in  settling  churches,  and  appointing  them  guides  and 
ministers  of  religion. 

After  exercising  the  apostolic  office,  for  several  years,  in 
all  those  parts,  he  came  at  last  to  Hierapolis,  in  Phrygia,  a 
city  remarkably  rich  and  populous,  but  at  the  same  time 
overrun  with  the  most  enormous  idolatry. 

Philip,  being  grieved  to  see  the  people  so  wretchedly  en- 
slaved to  error  and  superstition,  continually  offered  his  ad- 
dresses to  heaven,  till  by  his  prayers,  and  often  calling  on  the 
name  of  Christ,  he  procured  the  death,  or  at  least,  the  van- 
ishing of  an  enormous  serpent,  to  which  they  paid  adoration. 

Having  thus  demolished  their  Deity,  he  demonstrated  to 
them  hoAV  ridiculous  and  unjust  it  was  for  them  to  pay  such 
Divine  honors  to  such  odious  creatures ;  and  being  aroused 
from  their  lethargy,  they  were  ashamed  of  their  late  idolatry^ 
and  great  numbers  of  them  embraced  the  gospel. 

This  provoked  the  great  enemy  of  mankind,  and  he  had 
recourse  to  his  old  methods — cruelty  and  persecution. 

The  magistrates  of  the  city  seized  the  apostle,  and  having 
thrown  him  into  prison,  caused  him  to  be  scourged.  When 
this  preparatory  cruelty  was  over,  he  was  led  to  execution, 


BARTHOLOMEW.  805 

and,  being  bound,  was  hanged  against  a  pillar ;  or,  according 
to  others,  crucified. 

The  apostle  being  dead,  his  body  was  taken  down  bj  Bar- 
tholomew, his  fellow-laborer  in  the  gospel,  and  Mariamne, 
Philip's  sister,  the  constant  companion  of  his  travels,  and  de- 
cently buried ;  after  which  they  confirmed  the  people  in  the 
faith  of  Christ,  and  departed  from  thence. ' 


CHAPTER    XX. 

NATHANIEL  AND  BARTHOLOMEW  THE  SAME  CHARACTER;  FIRST  INTERVIEW 
WITH  CHRIST;  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS  LABORS  AND  FINAL  MARTYRDOM. 

MONG  the  twelve  immediate  disciples  of  our 
Lord,  this  apostle  is  mentioned  under  the  ap- 
pellation of  Bartholomew,  though  it  is  evident, 
from  divers  passages  of  Scripture,  that  he  was 
also  called  Nathaniel ;  we  shall,  therefore,  in 
our  account  of  his  life,  consider  the  names  of  Nathaniel  and 
Bartholomew  as  belonging  to  one  and  the  same  person. 

With  regard  to  his  descent  and  family,  some  are  of  opinion 
that  he  was  a  Syrian,  and  that  he  was  descended  from  the 
Ptolemies  of  Egypt.  But  it  is  plain,  from  the  evangelical 
history,  that  he  was  a  Galilean,  John  having  expresslj^  told 
us  that  he  was  of  Cana,  in  Galilee. 

The  Scripture  is  silent  with  regard  to  his  trade  and  manner 
of  life,  though,  from  some  circumstances,  there  is  room  to 
imagine  that  he  was  a  fisherman. 

He  was  at  his  first  coming  to  Christ,  conducted  by  Philip, 
who  told  him  they  had  nOw  found  the  long-expected  Messiah, 
so  often  foretold  by  Moses  and  the  prophets,  "Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, the  son  of  Joseph."  And  when  he  objected  that  the 
Messiah  could  not  be  born  at  Nazareth,  Philip  desired  him 
to  come,  and  satisfy  himself  that  he  v/as  the  Christ. 

At  his  approach,  the  Saviour  saluted  him  Avith  this  honoi- 

20 


306  BARTHOLOMEW. 

able  appellation,  that  he  was  "  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom 
there  was  no  guile." 

He  was  greatly  surprised  at  our  Lord's  salutation,  wonder- 
ing how  he  could  know  him  at  first  sight,  thinking  he  had 
never  before  seen  his  face.  But  he  was  answered  that  he 
had  seen  him  while  he  was  yet  under  the  fig-tree,  even  before 
Philip  called  him. 

Convinced  by  this  instance  of  our  Lord's  divinity,  he 
presently  made  this  confession,  that  he  was  now  sure  that 
Jesus  was  the  promised  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God,  whom  He 
had  appointed  to  govern  his  church. 

Oar  blessed  Saviour  to34  him  that,  if  from  this  instance  he 
could  believe  him  to  m  ..tfe|fcMessiah,  he  should  have  far 
greater  arguments  to^jB&n  his  faith ;  for  that  he  should 
hereafter  behold  the  hehvens  opened  to  receive  him,  and  the 
angels  visibly  appearing  to  attend  his  triumphant  entrance 
into  the  heavenly  Canaan. 

This  apostle  having  his  peculiar  spot  allotted  him,  for  the 
promulgation  of  the  gospel  of  his  blessed  Master,  after  the 
fulfillment  of  Christ's  words,  visited  different  parts  of  the 
world  to  23reacli  the  truth,  and  penetrated  as  far  as  higher 
India. 

After  spending  considerable  time  at  this  place,  and  the 
eastern  extremities  of  Asia,  he  returned  to  the  northern  and 
western  parts,  and  we  find  him  at  Hierapolis,  in  Phrygia, 
laboring  in  concert  with  Philip,  to  plant  Christianity  in  'those 
parts ;  and  to  convince  the  blind  idolaters  of  the  evil  of 
their  ways,  and  direct  them  in  the  paths  that  lead  to  eternal 
salvation. 

This  enraged  the  bigoted  magistrates,  and  he  was,  together 
with  Paul,  designed  for  martyrdom,  and  in  order  to  this, 
fastened  to  a  cross ;  but  their  consciences  pricking  them  for 
a  time,  they  took  him  immediately  down  from  the  cross,  and 
.^et  him  at  liberty. 

From  hence  he  returnel  into  Lycaonia,  and  St.  Chrysostom 
assures  us  that  he  instrucied  and  trained  up  the  inhabitants 
in  the  christian  discipline.  His  last  remove  was  to  Albano- 
ple,  in  great  Armenia,  a  place  miserably  overrun  with  idola- 


JAMES     THE     GEEAT.  oO  i 

try,  from  which  lie  labored  to  reclaim  the  people.  But  liis 
endeavors  to  "  turn  them  from  darkness  unto  light,  and  from 
the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,"  were  so  far  from  having  the 
desired  effect,  that  it  provoked  the  magistrates,  who  prevailed 
on  the  governor  to  put  him  to  death,  which  he  cheerfully 
underwent,  sealing  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  he  had  preached, 
with  his  blood. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

JAMES'  PARENTAGE ;    CALL  TO  THE  APOSTLESHIP ;    CHANGE  OF  NAME,  AND 

PROBABLE  CAUSE;    HEROD  PASSES  SENTENCE  OF  DEATH  UPON 

HIM,  AND  HE  IS  FINALLY  EXECUTED. 

way  of  distinction  from  another  of  that 
name,  this' apostle  was  surnamed  the  Great. 
He  was  the  son  of  Zebedee,  and  by  trade  a 
fisherman,  to  which  he  applied  himself  with 
remarkable  assiduity,  and  was  exercising  his 
employment  when  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  passing  by  the 
sea  of  Galilee,  saw  him  with  his  brother  in  the  ship,  and 
called  them  both  to  be  his  disciples.  Nor  was  the  call  in 
vain  ;  they  cheerfully  complied  with  it,  and  immediately  left 
all  to  follow  him ;  readily  delivering  themselves  up  to  per- 
form whatever  service  he  should  appoint  them. 

Soon  after  this,  he  was  called  from  the  station  of  an  ordi- 
nary disciple,  to  the  apostolical  ofl&ce,  and  was  even  honored 
with  some  particular  favor  beyond  most  of  the  apostles,  being 
one  of  the  three  whom  our  Lord  made  choice  of  as  his  com- 
panions in  the  more  intimate  transactions  of  his  life,  from 
which  the  rest  were  excluded.  Thus,  with  Peter  and  his 
brother  John,  he  attended  his  Master  when  he  raised  the 
dau2;hter  of  Jairus  from. the  dead.  He  was  admitted  to 
Christ's  glorious  transfiguration  on  the  mount ;  and  when  the 
holy  Jesus  was  to  undergo  his  bitter  agonies  in  the  garden, 


308  JAMES  THE   GREAT. 

as  preparatory  sufferings  to  liis  passion,  James  was  one  of 
three  taken  to  be  a  spectator  of  them.  Nor  was  it  the  least 
instance  of  that  particular  honor  our  Lord  conferred  upon 
these  apostles,  that,  at  his  calling  them  to  the  apostleship,  he 
gave  them  a  new  name  and  title :  Simon  he  called  Peter,  or  a 
rock  ;  and  James  and  John,  who  were  brothers,  Boanerges^  or 
the  sons  of  thunder. 

Some  think  that  this  name  was  given  them  on  account  of 
their  loud  and  bold  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  world,  fear- 
mg  no  threatenings,  despising  all  opposition,  and  going  on 
thundering  in  the  ears  of  a  drowsy  and  sleepy  world ;  rousing 
and  awakening  the  consciences  of  men  with  the  earnestness 
and  vehemence  of  their  preaching,  which  resembled  thunder, 
as  the  voice  of  God  powerfully  shakes  the  natural  world, 
and  breaks  in  pieces  the  cedars  of  Lebanon.  Others  think  it 
relates  to  the  doctrines  they  delivered,  teaching  the  great 
mysteries,  and  promulgating  the  gospel  in  a  more  profound 
and  lofty  strain  than  the  rest.  But  however  this  be,  our 
blessed  Saviour  doubtless  alluded,  by  this  term,  to  the  natu- 
rally furious  and  resolute  disposition  of  these  two  brothers, 
who  seem  to  have  been  of  a  more  fiery  temper  than  the  rest 
of  the  apostles,  of  which  we  have  this  memorable  instance  : 
when  our  Lord  was  determined  on  his  journey  to  Jerusalem, 
he  sent  some  of  his  disciples  before  him  to  make  preparations 
for  his  coming;  but  on  their  entering  a  village  of  Samaria, 
they  were  rudely  rejected,  from  the  old  grudge  that  subsisted 
between  the  Samaritans  and  Jews,  and  because  our  Saviour, 
by  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  seemed  to  slight  their  place  of 
worship  on  Mount  Gerizim.  This  piece  of  rudeness  and 
inhumanity  was  so  highly  resented  by  James  and  his  brother, 
that  they  came  to  Jesus,  desiring  to  know  if  he  would  not 
imitate  Elias,  by  calling  down  fire  from  heaven  to  consume 
this  barbarous,  inhospitable  people.  Thus  we  find  that  the 
best  of  men  are  but  men,  and  that  corrupt  nature  will  some- 
times appear  even  in  renewed  minds.  But  the  holy  Jesus 
soon  convinced  them  of  tlieir  mistake,  by  telling  them  that, 
instead  of  destroying,  he  was  come  to  save  the  lives  of  the 
children  of  men. 


JAMES  THE   GREAT. 


509 


Soplironius  tells  us  that  after  the  ascension  of  the  blessed 
Jesus,  this  apostle  preached  to  the  dispersed  Jews, — that  is,  to 
those  converts  who  were  dispersed  after  the  death  of  Stephen. 

The  Spanish  writers  afiirm  that,  after  preaching  the  gospel 
in  several  parts  of  Judea  and  Samaria,  he  visited  Spain, 
where  he  planted  Christianity,  and  appointed  some  select  dis- 
ciples to  perfect  what  he  had  begun  ;  but  if  we  consider  the 
shortness  of  James'  life,  and  that  the  apostles  continued  in  a 
body  at  Jerusalem,  even  after  the  dispersion  of  the  other 
christians,  we  shall  find  it  difficult  to  allow  time  sufficient  for 
so  tedious  and  difficult  a  voyage  as  that  was  in  those  early 
ages ;  and  therefore  it  is  safest  to  confine  his  ministry  to 
Judea  and  the  adjacent  countries. 

Herod,  who  was  a  bigot  to  the  Jewish  religion,  as  well  as 
desirous  of  acquiring  the  favor  of  the  Jqws,  began  a  violent 
persecution  of  the  Christians,  and  his  zeal  against  them  ani- 
mated him  to  pass  sentence  of  death  immediately  on  the 
apostle  James. 

As  he  was  led  to  the-  place  of  execution,  the  officer  that 
guarded  him  to  the  tribunal,  or  rather  his  accuser,  having 
been  converted  by  that  remarkable  courage  and  constancy 
shown  by  the  apostle  at  the  hour  of  trial,  repented  of  what 
he  had  done,  came  and  fell  down  at  the  apostle's  feet,  and 
heartily  begged  pardon  for  what  he  had  said  against  him. 

The  holy  man,  after  recovering  from  his  surprise,  tenderly 
embraced  him.  " Peace,"  said  he,  "my  son;  peace  be  unto 
thee,  and  pardon  of  thy  faults." 

Upon  which  the  officer  publicly  declared  himself  a  chris- 
tian, and  both  were  beheaded  at  the  same  time. 

Thus  fell  the  great  apostle  James,  being  the  first  who 
gained  the  crown ;  and  taking  cheerfully  that  cup  of  which 
he  had  long  since  told  Irs  Lord  he  was  ready  to  drink. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

DOUBT  AS  TO  HIS  IDENTITY;   FAITHFULNESS  AS  A  BISHOP;   HIS  ENEMIES,  IN 
CONSEQUENCE,  PUT  HIM  TO  A  CRUEL  LEATH. 

T  has  been  doubted  by  some  whether  this  was  the 

same  with  that  James  who  was  afterward  bishop 

'M^  ?  of  Jerusalem,  two  of  this  name  being  mentioned 

in  the  sacred  writings — namely — James  the  Great, 

and  James  the  Less,  both  apostles. 

Opinions,  however,  to  the  contrary,  are  built  upon  a  sandy 
foundation;  for  nothing  is  plainer  than  that  James  the 
apostle,  whom  Paul  calls  our  Lord's  brother,  and  reckons, 
with  Peter  and  John,  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  church,  was 
the  same  who  presided  among  the  apostles,  doubtless  by  vir- 
tue of  his  episcopal  office,  and  determined  the  causes  in  the 
synod  of  Jerusalem, 

After  the  resurrection,  he  was  honored  with  a  particular 
appearance  of  our  Lord  to  him,  which,  though  passed  over 
in  silence  by  the  evangelists,  is  recorded  by  Paul. 

Some  time  after  this  appearance,  he  was  chosen  bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  preferred  before  all  the  rest  for  his  near  relation  to 
Christ;  and  when  Paul  came  to  Jerusalem,  after  his  con- 
version, he  applied  to  him,  and  was  by  him  honored  with 
the  right  hand  of  fellowship. 

It  was  to  James,  that  Peter  sent  the  news  of  his  miraculous 
deliverance  out  of  prison ;  "  Go,"  said  he,  "  show  these  things 
unto  James,  and  to  the  brethren" — that  is,  to  the  whole 
church,  especially  to  Janes,  the  pastor  of  it. 

He  performed  every  part  of  his  duty  with  all  possible  care 
and  industry,  omitting  no  particular  necessity  to  be  observed 
by  a  diligent  and  faithful  guide  of  souls ;  but  a  person  so 
careful,  so  successful  in  his  charge,  could  not  fail  of  exciting 
the  spite  and  malice  of  his  enemies. 


JAMES    THE    LESS,  8H 

They  were  vexed  to  see  Paul  had  escaped  their  hands  bj 
appealing  unto  C«sar;  and  therefore  turned  their  fury 
against  James ;  but  being  unable  to  effect  their  design  under 
the  government  of  Festus,  they  determined  to  attempt  it 
under  the  procuratorship  of  Albinus,  his  successor, — Arsanus 
the  younger,  of  the  sect  of  the  Sadducees,  being  high-priest. 

In  order  to  this  a  council  was  assembled,  and  the  apostle 
with  others  arraigned  and  condemned  as  violaters  of  the  law. 
But  that  the  action  might  appear  more  plausible  and  popular, 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  masters  in  the  art  of  dissimulation, 
endeavored  to  ensnare  him;  and,  at  their  first  coming,  told 
him  that  they  had  all  placed  the  greatest  confidence  in  him ; 
that  the  whole  nation,  as  well  as  they,  gave  him  the  title  of 
a  just  man,  and  one  that  was  no  respector  of  persons;  that 
they  therefore  desired  he  would  correct  the  error  and  false 
opinion  the  people  had  conceived  of  Jesus,  whom  they  con- 
sidered as  the  Messiah,  and  take  this  opportunity  of  the  uni- 
versal confluence  to  the  Paschal  solemnity,  to  set  them  right 
in  this  particular,  and  would  go  with  them  to  the  top  of  the 
temple,  where  he  might  be  seen  and  heard  by  all. 

The  apostle  readily  consented,  and,  being  advantageously 
placed  on  a  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  they  addressed  him  in  the 
following  manner :  "  Tell  us — for  we  have  all  the  reason  in 
the  world  to  believe,  that  the  people  are  thus  generally  led 
away  with  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  who  was  crucified — tell  us, 
what  is  this  institution  of  the  crucified  Jesus?" 

To  which  the  apostle  answered  in  an  audible  voice,  "  "Why 
do  you  inquire  of  Jesus,  the  Son  of  man  ?  He  sits  in  heaven, 
at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high,  and  wilt  come  again 
in  the  clouds  of  heaven." 

The  people  below,  hearing  this,  glorified  the  blessed  Jesus, 
and  openly  proclaimed,  "  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David !" 

The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  now  perceived  that  they  had 
acted  foolishly ;  that  instead  of  altering,  they  had  confirmed 
the  people  in  their  belief;  and  that  there  was  no  way  left 
but  to  dispatch  him  immediately,  in  order  to  warn  others, 
by  his  sufferings,  not  to  believe  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

Accordingly,  they  suddenly  cried  out,  that  James  himself 


S12  JAMES    THE    LESS. 

was  seduced,  and  become  an  impostor ;  and  tliej  immediately 
threw  liim  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  on  which  he  stood, 
into  the  court  below ;  but  not  being  killed  on  the  spot,  he 
recovered  himself  so  far  as  to  rise  on  his  knees,  and  pray  fer- 
vently to  heaven  for  his  murderers. 

But  malice  is  too  diabolical  to  be  pacified  with  kindness, 
or  satisfied  with  cruelty. 

Accordingly,  his  enemies,  vexed  that  they  had  not  fully 
accomplished  their  work,  poured  a  shower  of  stones  upon 
him,  while  he  was  imploring  their  forgiveness  at  the  throne 
of  grace;  and  one  of  them,  dissatisfied  with  this  cruel  treat- 
ment, put  an  end  to  his  misery  with  a  fuller's  club. 

Thus  did  this  great  and  good  man  finish  his  course,  in  the 
ninety-sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  about  twenty -four  years  after 
his  blessed  Lord's  ascension  into  heaven. 

His  death  was  lamented  by  all  good  men,  even  by  the 
sober  and  just  persons  among  the  Jews,  themselves,  as  Jo- 
sephus  himself  confesses. 

He  was  a  man  of  exemplary  piety  and  devotion,  educated 
under  the  strictest  rules  and  institutions  of  religion.  Prayer 
was  his  constant  business  and  delight ;  he  seemed  as  it  were 
to  have  lived  upon  it,  and  continually  to  have  had  his  con- 
versation in  heaven;  and  he  who  has  told  us,  "that  the 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much,"  found  it  so  by  his 
own  experience,  heaven  lending  a  more  immediate  ear  to  his 
petitions ;  so  that  in  a  time  of  remarkable  drought,  on  his 
praying  for  rain,  the  clouds  melted  into  fruitful  showers. 

He  was  indeed  a  man  of  so  divine  and  holy  a  temper,  that 
he  was  at  once  the  love  and  wonder  of  his  age ;  and  from  the 
reputation  of  his  holy  and  religious  life,  was  styled  James  the 
Just. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

SIMON  BELONGS  TO  THE  ZEALOTS,  A  SECT  BY  THAT  NAME ;   ZEAL  FOR  CHRIST 

AFTER  HIS  CONVERSION ;    DEATH  AND  BURIAL  UNKNOWN. 

SCENE  OF  JUDE'S  LABORS ;    HIS  PROLONGED  SUCCESS 

IN  THE  MINISTRY. 

N  the  catalogue  of  tlie  apostles,  Simon  is  styled 

Simon  the  Canaaniie^  whence  some  conjecture  be 

^  1  was  born  in  Cana  of  Galilee ;    and  others  will 

have  him  to  have  been  the  bridegroom  mentioned 

by  John,  at  whose  marriage  the  Saviour  turned 

the  water  into  wine. 

.  But  this  word  has  no  relation  to  his  country,  or  the  place 
of  his  nativity,  being  derived  from  the  Hebrew  word,  hana, 
v^^hich  signifies  zeal,  and  denotes  a  warm  and  sprightly 
temper. 

"What  some  of  the  evangelists,  therefore,  call  Canaanite, 
others,  rendering  the  Hebrew  by  the  Greek  word,  style  him 
Zealot ;  not  so  much  for  his  great  zeal,  his  ardent  affection  to 
his  Master,  and  his  desire  of  advancing  his  religion  in  the 
world,  as  from  his  active,  warm  temper,  and  zealous  forward- 
ness in  some  particular  sect  of  religion  before  his  coming  to 
the  Saviour. 

In  order  to  understand  this  the  better,  it  will  be  necessary 
to  observe  that,  as  there  were  several  sects  and  parties  among 
the  Jews,  so  there  was  one,  either  a  distinct  sect,  or  at  least, 
a  branch  of  the  Pharisees,  called  the  sect  of  the  Zealots. 
They  were  continually  prompting  the  people  to  throw  off  the 
Eoman  yoke,  and  assert  their  natural  liberty, — taking  care, 
when  they  had  thrown  all  things  into  confusion,  to  make 
their  own  advantage  of  the  tumult,  and  hereby  came  to  be 
considered  as  the  pest  of  the  nation. 

But  whatever  Simon  was  before,  we  have  no  reason  to 
suspect  but  that,  after  his  conversion,  he  was  very  zealous 


314  JUDE. 

for  tlie  honor  of  his  Master,  and  considered  all  those  who 
were  enemies  to  Christ,  as  enemies  to  himself,  however  near 
thej  might  be  to  him  in  any  natural  relation. 

And  as  he  was  very  exact  in  all  the  practical  dut'.es  of  the 
christian  religion,  so  he  showed  a  very  serious  and  pious 
indignation  toward  those  who  professed  religion  and  a  faith 
in  Christ  with  theu*  mouths,  but  dishonored  their  sacred  pro- 
fession by  their  irregular  and  vicious  lives,  as  some  of  the 
first  professing  christians  really  did. 

Simon  continued  in  communion  with  the  rest  of  the  apos- 
tles and  disciples  at  Jerusalem ;  and  at  the  feast  of  Pentecost, 
received  the  same  miraculous  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  so  that 
he  was  qualified,  with  the  rest  of  the  brethren,  for  the  apos- 
tolic office ;  and  in  propagating  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God, 
we  can  not  doubt  of  his  exercising  his  gifts  with  the  same  zeal 
and  fidelity,  though  in  what  part  of  the  world  is  uncertain. 

Some  say  that  he  went  into  Egypt,  Cyrene,  and  Africa, 
preaching  the  gospel  to  those  romote  from  the  influence  of 
christian  truth;  and  others  add,  that  after  he  had  passed 
through  those  burning  wastes,  he  took  ship,  and  visited  the 
frozen  regions  of  the  north,  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  western  parts,  and  even  in  Britain,  where,  hav- 
ing converted  great  multitudes,  and  sustained  the  greatest 
hardships  and  persecutions,  he  was  at  last  crucified^  and 
buried,  but  the  place  where  is  unknown. 

The  next  apostle,  Jude,  is  mentioned  by  three  several 
names  in  the  evangelical  history — namely,  Jude  or  Judas, 
Thaddeus,  and-Lebbeus.  He  was  brother  to  James  the  Less, 
afterward  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  being  the  son  of  Joseph,  the 
reputed  father  of  Christ,  by  a  former  wife. 

It  is  not  known  when,  or  by  what  means,  he  became  a  dis- 
ciple of  our  blessed  Saviour,  nothing  being  said  of  him  till 
we  find  him  in  the  catalogue  of  the  twelve  apostles ;  nor 
afterward,  till  Christ's  last  supper,  when  discoursing  with  him 
about  his  departure,  and  comforting  them  with  a  promise  that 
he  would  return  to  them  again,  meaning  after  his  resurrection, 
though  the  "  world  should  see  him  no  more,"  our  apostle  said 


JUDE.  815 

to  his  Master,  "  Lord,  how  is  it  that  thou  wilt  manifest  thy- 
self to  us,  and  not  unto  the  world?" 

Paulinus  tells  us,  that  the  province  which  fell  to  the  share 
of  Jude  in  the  apostolic  division  of  the  provinces,  was  Libya, 
but  he  does  not  tell  whether  it  was  the  Cyrenean  Libya, 
which  is  thought  to  have  received  the  gospel  from  Mark,  or 
the  more  southern  parts  of  Africa. 

But,  however  that  be,  in  his  first  setting  out  to  preach  the 
gospel,  he  traveled  up  and  down  Judea  and  Galilee ;  then 
through  Samaria  into  Idumea,  and  to  the  cities  of  Arabia  and 
the  neighboring  countries,  and  afterward  to  Syria  and  Meso- 
potamia. Nicephorus  adds,  that  he  came  at  last  to  Edessa, 
where  Abagarus  governed,  and  where  Thaddeus,  one  of  the 
seventy,  had  already  sown  the  seeds  of  the  gospel.  Here  he 
perfected  what  the  other  had  begun ;  and  having,  by  his  ser- 
mons and  miracles,  established  the  religion  of  Jesus,  he  died 
in  peace;  but  others  say  that  he  was  slain  at  Berytus,  and 
honorably  buried  there. 

The  writers  of  the  Latin  church  are  unanimous  in  declar- 
ing that  he  traveled  into  Persia,  where,  after  great  success  in 
his  apostolic  ministry  for  many  years,  he  was  at  last,  for  his 
freely  and  openly  reproving  the  superstitious  rites  and  cus- 
toms of  the  magi,  cruelly  put  to  death. 

Jude  left  only  one  epistle,  which  is  placed  the  last  of  those 
seven  styled  catholic^  in  the  sacred  canon.  It  has  no  particu- 
lar inscription,  as  the  other  six  have,  but  is  thought  to  have 
been  primarily  intended  for  the  Christian  Jews,  in  their  sev- 
eral dispersions,  as  Peter's  epistles  were. 

It  was  some  time  before  this  epistle  was  generally  received 
in  the  church.  The  author,  indeed,  like  James,  John,  and 
sometimes  Paul  himself,  does  not  call  himself  an  apostle, 
styling  himself  only  the  servant  of  Christ.  But  he  has  added 
what  is  equivalent :  "  Jude,  the  brother  of  James,"  a  charac- 
ter that  can  belong  to  no  one  but  this  apostle.  And  surely 
the  humility  of  a  follower  of  Jesus  should  be  no  objection 
against  his  wiHings. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FIRST  INTERYIEAV  WITH  JESUS  AND  IIIS  CALL ;    DENIAL  OF  CHRIST;    MEET- 
ING WITH  JESUS  AFTER  HIS  RESURRECTION;    BOLDNESS  IN  PREACHING. 

j-Ik^^I   ATjSI'T  Peter  ^Yas  born  at  Betlisaida,  a  city  of  Gali 

^^'1?^    lee,  situate  on  the  banks  of  the  lake  of  Geucsareth, 

??^j^^*  called  also  the  sea  of  Galilee,  from  its  being  situa- 

1^4^^  ted  in  that  country,  and  the  lake  of  Tiberias,  from 

that  city  being  built  on  its  banks. 

But  the  particular  time  of  this  great  apostle's  birth  can  not 

be  known;    the  evangelists   and  other  writers  among  the 

primitive  christians  having  been  silent  with  regard  to  this 

particular.     It  is,  however,  pretty  certain  that  he  was  at  least 

ten  years  older  than  his  Master;    the  circumstances  of  his 

being  married  and  in  a  settled  course  of  life,  when  he  first 

became  a  follower  of  the  great  Messiah,  and  that  a^^thority 

and  respect  the  gravity  of  his  person  procured  him  among 

the  rest  of  the  apostles,  are  thought  sufiiciently  to  declare  this 

conjecture  to  be  very  near  the  truth. 

As  he  was  a  descendant  of  Abraham,  he  was  circumcised 
according  to  the  rites  of  the  Mosaic  law,  and  called  by  his 
parents,  Simon,  or  Simeon,  a  name  common  at  that  time 
among  the  Jews.  But  after  his  becoming  a  disciple  of  the 
blessed  Jesus,  the  additional  title  of  Cephas  was  conferred 
upon  him  by  his  Master,  to  denote  the  firmness  of  his  faith  ; 
the  woi'd  Cephas,  in  the  Syriac,  the  common  language  of  the 
Jews  at  that  time,  signifying  a  sione,  or  rock;  hence  Ave  call 
him  Peter,  which  implies  the  same  thing. 

"With  regard  to  the  parents  of  Peter,  the  evangelists  have 
also  been  silent,  except  in  telling  us  that  his  father's  name 
was  Jonas,  who  was  highly  honored  by  our  blessed  Saviour, 
who  chose  two  of  his  sons,  Andrew  and  Peter,  to  be  liis 
apostles,  and  preachers  of  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the 
children  of  men. 


PETER.  817 

Peter  in  his  youth  was  brought  up  to  the  trade  of  fishing 
on  the  lake  of  Bethsaicla,  where  he  followed  it  for  some  time, 
but  afterward  removed  to  Capernaum,  ^rhere  he  settled;  for 
we  find  he  had  a  house  there  when  our  Saviour  began  his 
public  ministry,  and  there  he  jiaid  tribute. 

His  business  was  both  mean  and  servile ;  exposing  him  to 
all  the  injuries  of  the  weather,  the  tempestuousness  of  the  sea, 
and  the  darkness  and  horror  of  the  night,  and  all  to  acquire 
a  mean  livelihood  for  himself  and  family. 

But  meanness  of  worldly  degree  is  no  obstacle  to  the  favor 
of  God.  Indeed,  the  chosen  friends  and  votaries  of  Chris- 
tianity, are  oftener  persons  of  humble  and  lowly  stations  in 
life,  than  the  great,  the  dignified,  and  the  opulent. 

Of  what  sect  the  apostle  was,  sacred  history  hath  not 
ascertained. 

His  readiness  and  curiosity  at  the  first  news  of  Christ's  ap- 
pearance, to  come  to  him  and  converse  with  him,  shows  that 
his  expectations  had  been  awakened,  and  some  glimmering 
rays  of  hope  conveyed  to  him  by  the  preaching  and  ministry 
of  John,  who  was  "  the  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  his  path  straight. 

He  became  acquainted  with  the  immaculate  Lamb  of  God, 
in  the  followins;  manner: 

His  brother,  having  heard  from  John  the  Baptist,  a  de- 
scription of  the  character  of  Jesus,  who  not  only  told  them 
of  him,  but  pointed  him  out  personally,  was  greatly  rejoiced 
at  the  discovery,  hastened  to  Simon,  and  with  rapture  ex- 
claimed, "I  have  found  that  eminent  person  so  long  and  sig- 
nally foretold  by  the  prophets,  and  whom  all  the  devout  and 
pious  among  the  sons  of  Jacob  so  earnestly  expected." 

Simon,  who  was  one  of  those  who  waited  for  redemption 
in  Israel,  ravished  with  this  joyful  news,  and  impatient  of 
delay,  presently  followed  his  brother  to  the  place;  and  on 
his  arrival  the  Saviour  immediately  gave  him  a  proof  of  his 
divinity,  saluting  him  at  first  sight  by  his  name,  and  telling 
him  both  who  he  was,  his  name  and  kindred,  and  what  title 
should  soon  be  conferred  upon  him. 

Peter,  however,  seems  not  to  have  followed  Jesus  at  this 


318  PETEE. 

time,  but  returned  to  liis  fisliing  on  tlie  lake,  where  the  Ee- 
deemer  afterward  found  him. 

Having  occasion  at  a  certain  time,  to  get  into  Simon's  boat, 
to  avoid  the  multitude  who  pressed  upon  him,  he  ordered 
that  the  boat  be  put  from  the  shore,  and  the  net  cast  into  the 
sea.  To  which  Simon  answered,  that  they  had  labored  the 
preceding  night,  and  had  taken  nothing ;  and  if  they  could 
not  then  succeed,  there  waa  little  hopes  of  it  now,  as  the  day 
was  far  less  proper  for  fishing  than  the  night.  But  as  his 
Master  was  pleased  to  command,  he  would  obey ;  and  accord- 
ingly he  let  down  his  net,  when,  to  the  astonishment  both 
of  himself  and  his  companions,  so  great  a  multitude  of  fishes 
were  inclosed,  that  they  were  obliged  to  call  their  partners 
to  their  assistance. 

Amazed  at  this  miraculous  draught  of  fishes,  Simon  Peter, 
in  an  ecstacy  of  admiration,  blended  with  awe  and  humilit}'', 
fell  prostrate  at  his  Master's  feet,  acknowledging  himself  to 
be  a  vile  and  sinful  person,  and  thinking  himself  unworthy 
of  being  admitted  into  the  presence  of  one  so  immediately 
sent  from  God.  But  the  compassionate  Son  of  the  Most 
High  kindly  removed  his  fears,  telling  him  that  this  miracle 
was  wrought  to  confirm  his  faith,  and  indicate  to  him  that 
I  he  Almighty  had  appointed  a  more  noble  employment  for 
him,  that  of  saving  the  souls  of  the  children  of  men. 

From  this  time  Peter  and  his  companions  became  the  con- 
stant and  inseparable  disciples  of  the  great  Messiah,  submit- 
ting themselves  to  the  rules  of  his  discipline,  and  living  under 
his  institutions. 

Peter  became  one  of  the  chosen  twelve,  selected  to  be  in 
attendance  on  the  blessed  Saviour,  to  perform  his  holy 
pleasure.  He  accompanied  his  Master  to  the  house  of  Jairus, 
on  the  occasion  of  his  restoring  to  life  the  ruler's  daughter ; 
and  from  this  time  we  have  no  account  of  him  in  particular 
till  the  night  after  our  Saviour's  miraculously  feeding  the 
multitude  in  the  wilderness. 

Then,  as  Jesus  was  walking  toward  his  disciples  on  the 
raging,  tempest-tossed  sea,  Peter,  who  was  always  remarkable 
for  bold  resolutions,  desired  his  Master  to  give  him  leave  to 


PETER. 


819 


come  to  liim  on  the  water;  and,  on  obtaining  permission,  lie 
left  the  ship,  and  walked  on  the  sea  to  meet  his  Saviour. 

But  when  he  heard  the  deep  roar  around  him,  and  the 
waves  increase,  he  began  to  be  afraid ;  and  as  his  faith  de- 
clined, his  body  sunk  in  the  water,  so  that,  in  the  greatest 
agony,  he  called  for  assistance  to  him  who  was  able  to 
save. 

His  cry  was  heard,  and  the  reproof  given,  "  0,  thou  of 
little  faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt?" 

As  Jesus  was  discoursing  the  next  day  on  the  true  hread 
from  heaven^  in  allusion  to  the  miracle  of  the  loaves,  many 
left  him,  upon  which  he  turned  to  his  disciples,  and  asked 
them  if  they  also  would  go  away.  To  which  Peter  replied 
in  a  manner  that  showed  his  confidence,  "Lord,  w^hither 
shall  we  go?     Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life." 

Then  in  order  to  test  them,  he  inquired  what  they  thought 
of  him,  and  Peter  again  unhesitatingly  speaks,  "  Thou  art 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 

This  full  and  comprehensive  declaration  satisfied  the 
Saviour,  who  answered,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jonah  : 
for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my 
father  which  is  in  heaven." 

That  is,  this  faith  which  thou  hast  now  confessed  is  not 
human,  or  built  upon  the  testimony  of  men,  but  upon  the 
knowledge  which  I  was  sent  from  God  to  reveal  unto  the 
world ;  therefore  I  say  also  unto  thee,  "  that  thou  art  Peter, 
and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." 

As  thy  name  signifies  a  rock,  so  shalt  thou  prove  firm, 
solid,  and  immovable  in  building  my  church,  which  shall  be 
so  firmly  established  by  thy  care  and  diligence,  upon  that 
faith  thou  hast  now  professed,  that  all  the  assaults  of  men 
and  devils  shall  not  be  able  to  destroy  it. 

The  disciples  had  no  idea  that  their  Master  was  to  sufiei 
death  for  the  sins  of  the  world  ;  and  when  he  related  to  them 
what  he  must  undergo,  Peter,  who  could  not  endure  the 
thought  of  his  Lord's  suffering  even  the  least  punishment, 
much  less  those  cruelties  he  had  mentioned,  and  at  last  death 


820  PETER.     . 

itself,  interrupted  liim  very  unseasonably,  and  said,  "  Be  it 
far  from  thee.  Lord ;  this  shall  not  be  unto  thee." 

But  the  Saviour,  who  came  down  from  heaven  to  give  his 
life  a  ransom  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  and  who  valued  the 
redemption  of  mankind  infinitely  more  than  his  own  ease 
and  safety,  highly  resented  this  speech,  and  accordingly  re- 
turned the  sharp  reproof,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan ;  thou 
art  an  offense  unto  me." 

Soon  after,  we  see  him  one  of  the  favored  three  who  ascend 
the  mount  of  transfiguration,  and  while  the  heavenly  scene 
was  being  enacted  there,  he  fell  asleep,  and  on  waking,  was 
surprised  to  see  him  surrounded  with  unutterable  glory,  and 
Moses  and  Elias  talking  with  him. 

Silence  was  preserved  till  those  visitants  from  the  courts 
of  heaven  were  going  to  depart,  when  Peter,  in  a  rapture 
and  ecstasy  of  mind,  addressed  himself  to  his  Master,  declar- 
ing infinite  pleasure  and  delight  in  being  favored  with  this 
glorious  spectacle,  and  desired  his  leave  to  erect  three  taber- 
nacles— one  for  him,  and  one  for  ea^h  of  the  two  prophets. 
But  at  this  moment,  a  voice  from  heaven  declared  the  divin- 
ity of  Christ,  which  filled  the  disciples  with  fear ;  and  as  he 
touched  them,  bidding  them  dismiss  their  fears,  they  looked 
up,  and  saw  their  Master  onl}^ 

Peter,  also,  was  one  of  those  who  were  sent  to  make  pre- 
parations for  celebrating  the  Passover. 

While  Jesus  was  washing  his  disciples'  feet  on  this  occa- 
sion, he  came  to  Peter,  who  would  by  no  means  permit  him 
to  perform  so  mean  and  condescending  an  office.  What ! 
the  Son  of  God  stoop  to  wash  the  feet  of  a  sinful  mortal ! — a 
thought  which  shocked  the  apostle,  who  strenuously  declared, 
"  Thou  shalt  never  wash  my  feet." 

But  Jesus  told  him  that  if  he  washed  him  not,  he  could 
have  no  part  with  him, — insinuating  that  this  action  was 
m3rstical,  and  signified  the  remission  of  sins  and  the  puri- 
fying virtue  of  the  Spirit  of  the  I\Iost  High,  to  be  poured 
out  upon  all  true  christians.  This  answer  sufficiently 
removed  the  scruples  of  Peter,  who  cried  out,  "Lord, 
not  my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head."     Wash 


PETER.  821 

me  in  every  part,  rather  than  let  me  lose  my  portion  in 
thee. 

During  the  solemn  institution  of  the  supper,  Jesus  again 
told  them  of  his  death,  and  final  departure  from  them. 
Peter,  not  well  understanding  what  he  meant,  asked  him 
whither  he  was  going;  to  which  he  replied,  that  he  was 
going  to  that  place  whither  he  could  not  now,  but  should 
hereafter  follow  him,  intimating  the  martyrdom  he  was  to 
suffer  for  his  Master's  religion. 

Peter  answered  that  he  was  now  ready  to  follow  him,  even 
if  it  required  him  to  lay  down  his  life. 

This  confident  presumption  was  not  at  all  agreeable  to  the 
blessed  Jesus,  who  told  him  he  had  promised  great  things, 
but  would  be  so  far  from  performing  them,  that  before  the 
cock  crew,  he  would  thrice  deny  his  Master. 

Supper  being  now  ended,  they  sung  a  hymn,  and  departed 
to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  where  Jesus  again  put  them  in  mind 
how  greatly  the  things  he  was  going  to  suffer  would  offend 
them.  To  which  Peter  replied,  that  though  all  men  should 
be  offended  because  of  him,  yet  he  himself  would  never  be 
offended. 

How  far  will  an  indiscreet  zeal  and  affection  transport  even 
a  good  man  into  vanity  and  presumption  !  Peter  questions 
the  fidelity  of  others,  but  never  doubts  his  own,  though  his 
Lord  had  just  before  reproved  him  for  his  self-sufliciency. 
This  confidence  of  Peter  inspired  the  rest  of  the  apostles 
with  courage,  so  that  they  declared  their  constant  and  unsha- 
ken adherence  to  their  Master. 

They  now  repaired  to  the  garden  of  Gethsemane;  and, 
leaving  the  rest  of  the  apostles  near  the  entrance,  the  Saviour 
■took  with  him  Peter,  and  two  other  disciples,  and  retired  into 
the  most  solitary  part  of  the  garden,  where  he  labored  under 
the  bitterest  agony  human  nature  ever  endured.  During 
this,  his  disciples  were  asleep,  and  after  three  several  looks  at 
them,  he  called  to  Peter,  and  how  must  the  words  have 
touched  his  heart,  "Could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour?" 

They  awoke,  and  while  the  Saviour  was  discoursing  with 

them,  a  band  of  soldiers  from  the  chief  priests  and  elders, 

21 


822  PETER. 

preceded  by  the  traitor  Judas,  to  conduct  and  direct  them, 
rushed  into  the  garden,  and  seized  the  great  High  Priest  of 
our  profession. 

Peter,  whose  ungovernable  zeal  would  admit  of  no  restraint, 
drew  his  sword,  and,  without  the  least  order  from  his  Master, 
struck  at  one  of  the  persons  who  seemed  to  be  remarkably 
busy  in  binding  Jesus,  and  cut  off  his  right  ear.  This  wild 
and  unwarrantable  zeal  was  very  offensive  to  the  Saviour, 
who  rebuked  Peter,  and  entreated  the  patience  of  the  soldiers, 
while  he  miraculously  healed  the  wound. 

Now  the  fidelity  of  the  apostles,  which  they  had  urged 
with  so  much  confidence,  was  put  to  the  trial. 

They  saw  their  Master  in  the  hands  of  a  rude  and  incon- 
siderate band  of  men,  but,  instead  of  assisting  and  comforting 
him,  they  all  forsook  him,  and  fled. 

He  was  carried  from  one  tribunal  to  another,  and,  in  the 
mean  time,  Peter,  who  had  followed  the  other  disciples  in 
their  flight,  recovered  his  spirits ;  and  being  encouraged  by 
his  companion,  John,  returned  to  seek  his  Master,  and  seeing 
him  led  toward  the  high  priest's  hall,  followed  at  a  distance 
to  know  the  event;  but  on  his  coming  to  the  door,  was 
refused  admittance,  till  one  of  the  disciples,  who  was  ac- 
quainted there,  came  out,  and  prevailed  upon  the  servant 
who  kept  the  door  to  let  him  in.  Peter,  being  admitted, 
repaired  to  the  fire,  burning  in  the  middle  of  the  hall,  around 
which  the  officers  and  servants  were  standing ;  where,  being 
observed  by  the  maid-servant  who  let  him  in,  she  charged 
him  with  being  one  of  Christ's  disciples;  but  he  publicly 
denied  the  charge,  declaring  that  he  did  not  know  him,  and 
presently  withdrew  into  the  porch,  where  he  heard  the  cock 
crow,  an  intimation  seemingly  sufficient  to  awaken  his  con- 
science into  a  quick  sense  of  his  duty,  and  the  promise  he 
had  a  few  hours  before  made  to  his  Master.  But,  alas! 
human  nature,  when  left  to  itself,  is  remarkably  frail  and 
inconstant. 

This  Peter  sufficiently  experienced ;  for  while  he  continued 
in  the  porch,  another  maid  met  him,  and  charged  him  with 
being  one  of  the  followers  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which  Peter 


PETER.  823 

firmlj  denied,  and,  the  better  to  gain  belief,  ratified  it  with 
an  oath.  About  an  hour  after  this,  the  servant  of  the  high 
priest,  he  whose  ear  Peter  had  cut  off,  charged  him  with 
being  a  disciple  of  Christ,  and  that  he  himself  had  seen  him 
in  the  garden  with  him ;  adding,  that  his  very  speech  suffi- 
ciently proved  that  he  was  a  Galilean. 

Peter,  however,  still  denied  the  fact ;  and  added  to  his  sin, 
by  ratifying  it  not  only  by  an  oath,  but  by  a  solemn  curse 
and  execration,  that  he  was  not  the  person ;  that  he  knew 
not  the  man. 

But  no  sooner  had  he  uttered  the  denial,  than  the  cock 
crew  ;  at  which  his  Master  turned  about,  and  earnestly  looked 
upon  him, — a  look  that  pierced  him  to  the  heart,  and  brought 
to  his  remembrance  what  his  Saviour  had  more  than  once 
foretold,  that  he  would  basely  and  shamefully  deny  him. 

Peter  was  now  no  longer  able  to  contain  his  sorrow ;  he 
flew  from  the  palace  of  the  high  priest,  and  wept  bitterly, 
passionately  bewailing  his  folly,  and  the  aggravation  of  his 
sin. 

Thus  have  we  in  Peter  a  sad  warning  for  our  instruction. 
His  full  should  convincje  us  of  the  miserable  frailty  of  the 
best  men,  and  effectually  subdue  those  vain  confidences 
which  are  apt  to  rise  in  our  hearts,  from  our  own  supposed 
strength  and  firmness. 

It  is  certain,  from  various  circumstances,  that  Peter,  after 
the  crucifixion  of  his  Lord  and  Master,  staid  at  Jerusalem, 
or,  at  least,  in  the  neighborhood ;  for  when  Mary  Magdalene 
returned  from  the  sepulchre,  to  inform  the  disciples  that  the 
stone  was  rolled  away  from  the  door,  and  the  body  not  to  be 
found,  Peter  and  John  set  out  immediately  for  the  garden. 
John,  who  was  the  younger,  arrived  at  the  sepulchre  first, 
looked  into  it,  but  did  not  enter,  either  out  of  fear,  or  rever- 
ence to  his  Saviour.  Peter  came  soon  after,  and  resolutely 
went  into  the  sepulchre,  where  he  found  the  linen  clothes  lying 
together  in  one  place,  and  the  napkin  that  was  about  his  head, 
wrapped  together  in  another, — a  sufficient  indication  that  the 
body  was  not  stolen  away ;  for,  had  that  been  the  case,  so 
much  care  would  not  have  been  observed. 


o2-i  PETER. 

But  Peter  did  not  long  wait  in  suspense,  for  the  same  day 
Jesus  appeared  to  him,  and  as  he  was  the  first  of  the  disci- 
ples who  had  made  a  signal  confession  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Messiah's  mission,  so  it  was  reasonable  he  should  first  see 
him  after  his  resurrection ;  at  the  same  time,  to  convince  him 
that  the  crime  he  had  been  guilty  of,  in  denying  him,  was 
pardoned,  and  that  he  was  come,  like  the  good  Samaritan,  to 
pour  oil  into  his  wounded  conscience. 

Peter,  and  some  other  disciples,  returned  to  their  old  trade 
of  fishing  on  the  lake.  Soon  after,  Jesus  appeared  to  them, 
standing  on  the  shore,  being  first  recognized  by  the  beloved 
disciple ;  and  no  sooner  had  Peter  heard  John  declare  his 
opinion  concerning  him,  than  his  zeal  took  fii'c ;  and,  not- 
withstanding the  coldness  of  the  season,  he  girt  on  his  fisher's 
coat,  threw  himself  into  the  sea,  and  swam  to  shore, — his 
impatience  to  be  with  his  dear  Lord  and  Master  not  suffering 
him  to  stay  the  few  minutes  necessary  to  bring  the  ship  to 
land. 

As  soon  as  the  disciples  came  on  shore,  they  found  a  repast 
prepared  for  them  by  the  power  of  their  Divine  Lord,  and 
this  being  ended,  the  Saviour  addressed  himself  particularly 
to  Peter,  urging  him  to  the  utmost  diligence  in  the  care  of 
souls ;  and  because  he  knew  that  nothing  but  a  sincere  love 
to  himself  could  support  him  under  the  troubles  and  dangers 
of  so  laborious  and  difficult  an  employment,  he  inquired  of 
him  whether  he  loved  him  more  than  the  rest  of  the  apostles, 
mildly  reproving  him  for  his  over-confident  resolution. 

Peter,  whom  fatal  experience  had  taxight  humility,  mod- 
estly answered,  that  none  knew  so  well  as  himself  the  integ- 
rity of  his  affections. 

Thou  knowest  the  hearts  of  all  men ;  nothing  is  hid  frrra 
thee  ;  and  therefore  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee. 

The  question  was  three  several  times  repeated  by  our 
blessed  Saviour,  and  as  often-times  answered  by  the  apostle, 
it  being  but  just  that  he  who,  by  a  three-fold  denial,  had 
given  so  much  reason  to  question  his  affection,  should  now, 
by  a  three-fold  confession,  give  more  than  common  assurance 
of  his  sincere  love  for  his  Master;  and  to  each  of  these 


PETER,  325 

confessions  tlie  Saviour  added  this  signal  trial  of  his  affection, 
"  Feed  my  sheep." 

Jesus  having  thus  engaged  Peter  to  a  cheerful  compliance 
with  the  dangers  that  might  attend  the  discharge  of  his  office, 
particularly  intimated  to  him  the  fate  that  would  attend  him ; 
telling  him,  that  when  he  was  young  he  girt  himself,  lived  at 
his  pleasure,  and  went  wherever  his  fancy  directed  him  ;  but 
when  he  should  reach  the  term  of  old  age,  he  should  stretch 
forth  his  hands,  and  another  should  gird  and  bind  him,  and 
lead  him  v/hither  he  had  no  desire  to  go,  intimating,  as  the 
evangelists  tell  us,  "by  what  death  he  should  glorify  God." 
Peter  was  well  pleased  to  drink  the  bitter  cup,  and  make  his 
confession  as  public  as  his  denial,  providing  all  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  prove  the  sincerity  of  his  love. 

ISTo't  long  after  this,  Jesus  took  his  last  farewell  of  his  dis- 
ciples, and  ascended  up  into  heaven. 

The  apostles,  though  deprived  of  the  personal  presence  of 
their  dear  Lord  and  Master,  were  indefatigable  in  fulfilling 
the  commission  they  had  received  from  him. 

The  first  object  that  engaged  their  attention,  after  their  re- 
turn to  Jerusalem,  was  to  fill  up  the  vacancy  in  their  number, 
lately  made  by  the  unhappy  fall  and  apostacy  of  Judas. 

In  order  to  this,  they  called  together  the  church,  and  en- 
tered into  an  upper  room,  when  Peter,  as  president  of  the  as- 
sembly, proposed  to  them  the  choice  of  a  new  apostle. 

He  put  them  in  mind  that  Judas,  one  of  the  disciples  of 
their  beloved  Lord,  being  betrayed  by  his  covetous  and  in- 
satiable temper,  had  lately  fallen  from  the  honor  of  his  place 
and  ministry. 

That  this  was  no  more  than  what  the  prophet  had  long 
since  foretold  should  come  to  pass,  and  that  the  care  of  the 
church,  which  had  been  committed  to  him,  should  devolve 
upon  another;  that  therefore  it  was  highly  necessary  that 
the  same  person  who  had  been  familiarly  conversant  with 
the  blessed  Jesus  from  first  to  last,  and  consequently  a  com 
petent  witness  both  of  his  doctrine  and  miracles,  his  death, 
resurrection,  and  ascension,  should  be  substituted  in  his  room. 
It  was  highly  requisite  that  such  an  apostle  should  be  closen . 


826  PETER. 

and  according!}'-  two  candidates  were  proposed;  Joseph, 
called  Barsabas,  and  Matthias,  both  qualified  for  the  great  and 
important  work.  Having  prayed  that  Divine  providence 
would  guide  and  direct  their  choice,  they  cast  lots,  and  it  fell 
upon  the  latter,  who  was  admitted  at  once  into  their  number. 

After  filling  this  vacancy,  they  spent  their  time  in  prayer 
and  meditation  till  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  when  the  promise 
of  their  great  Master  in  sending  the  Holy  Ghost  was  fulfilled, 
in  a  remarkable  manner,  having  the  appearance  of  "  cloven 
tongues  of  fire,  resting  upon  each  one  of  them." 

This  surprising  transaction  produced  different  effects  on 
the  minds  of  the  people,  some  attributing  it  to  the  effect  of  a 
miracle,  and  others  to  the  power  of  new  wine ;  upon  which 
the  apostles  all  stood  up,  and  Peter,  in  the  name  of  the  rest, 
undertook  to  confute  this  injurious  calumny. 

He  told  them  that  this  scandalous  slander  proceeded  from 
the  spirit  of  malice  and  falsehood ;  that  "their  censure  was 
uncharitable  as  it  was  unjust;  that  it  was  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  therefore  not  a  time  for  drinking,  especially  on  a 
day  set  apart  for  devotion;  that  these  extraordinary  and 
miraculous  effects  w^ere  but  the  accomplishment  of  an  ancient 
prophecy,  which  the  Almighty  had  expressly  declared  should 
be  fulfilled  in  the  times  of  the  Messiah. 

He  continued  boldly  to  explain  the  prophecies,  and  declare 
Christ  to  be  the  promised  Saviour. 

This  discourse,  though  the  first  that  Peter  ever  made  in 
public,  deeply  affected  the  audience,  and  every  word,  like  a 
dagger,  pierced  them  to  the  heart ;  so  that  they  cried  out, 
"  Men  and  brethren,  what  shall  we  do  ?" 

To  which  Peter  answered,  The  only  way  to  expiate  your 
guilt,  obtain  pardon  for  the  many  sins  3^ou  have  committed, 
and  acquire  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  to  repent  sincerely, 
and  be  baptized  into  the  religion  of  this  crucified  Saviour. 

He  also  used  the  most  forcible  and  endearing  expressions 
to  prevail  on  them  to  listen  to  the  inviting  calls  of  the  Son 
of  God,  and  by  that  means  to  save  themselves  from  the  una- 
voidable ruin  and  destruction,  which  would  shortly  fall  on 
tlie  heads  of  the  wicked  and  headstrong  generation  of  unbe 


PETER.  327 

lieving  Jews.  The  effect  of  tliis  discourse  was  equally  won- 
derful and  surprising ;  for  vast  numbers  of  those  who  before 
ridiculed  the  religion  of  Jesus,  now  acknowledged  him  for 
their  Saviour,  and  flew  to  him  for  refuge  from  the  impending 
storm. 

Soon  after  this  wonderful  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Peter 
and  John,  going  up  to  the  temple  about  three  in  the  after- 
noon, near  the  conclusion  of  one  of  the  solemn  hours  of 
prayer,  they  saw  a  poor,  impotent  cripple,  near  forty  years 
of  age,  who  had  been  lame  from  his  birth,  lying  at  the 
"  Beautiful  Gate "  of  the  temple,  and  asking  alms  of  those 
who  entered  the  sacred  edifice. 

This  miserable  object  moved  their  compassion  ;  and  Peter 
beholding  him  with  attention,  said.  The  riches  of  this  world, 
the  silver  and  gold  so  highly  coveted  by  the  sons  of  men,  are 
not  in  my  power  to  bestow ;  but  I  possess  the  power  of  re- 
storing life  and  health,  and  am  ready  to  assist  thee. 

Then  taking  the  man  by  the  hand,  he  com.manded  him  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  to  rise  up  and  walk. 

Immediately  his  nerves  and  sinews  were  enlarged,  and  the 
several  parts  of  his  diseased  members  performed  their  natural 
functions.  Upon  which  the  man  accompanied  them  into  the 
temple,  walking,  leaping,  and  praising  God. 

So  strange  and  extraordinary  a  cure  filled  the  minds  of  the 
people  with  admiration,  and  their  curiosity  drew  them  around 
the  apostles  to  view  the  men  who  had  performed  it. 

Peter,  seeing  the  multitude  gathering  round  them,  took  the 
opportunity  of  speaking  to  them  of  the  way  of  salvation 
through  a  crucified  Redeemer. 

The  amazing  success  Peter  and  John  met  with,  could  not 
fail  of  exciting  the  envy  and  attention  of  the  rulers  of  Israel, 
who  seized  them,  and  put  them  in  prison. 

The  next  day  they  were  carried  before  the  Jewish  Sanhe- 
drim, and  being  asked  by  what  power  and  authority  they 
had  done  this,  Pet«r  boldly  answered.  Be  it  known  unto  you 
and  to  all  the  descendants  of  Jacob,  that  this  miracle  was 
wrought  wholly  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom  ye 
yourselves  have  crucified  and  slain,  and  whom  the  Almighty 


328  PETEK. 

hath  raised  again  from  the  dead.  Nor  is  there  any  other 
way  by  which  you,  or  any  of  the  sons  of  men  can  be  saved, 
but  by  this  crucified  Saviour. 

This  boldness  of  the  apostle  was  admired  by  all,  even  by 
the  court  of  the  Sanhedrim,  and  after  beholding  them  with  a 
kind  of  astonishment,  they  were  ordered  to  withdraw,  while 
they  debated  among  themselves  what  was  proper  to  be  done. 

They  were  finally  forbidden  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
but  in  answer  to  prayer  they  were  replenished  with  fresh 
measures  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  enabled  to  continue  with 
new  ardor  and  boldness  in  proclaiming  Christ's  purchased 
salvation. 

Many  sold  their  possessions  and  gave  all  they  had  into  the 
common  treasury,  for  the  promotion  of  the  great  work. 
Ananias  and  his  wife  Sapphira,  were  two  who  pretended  to 
do  thus,  yet  kept  back  part,  hoping  to  deceive  those  who 
were  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  Omnipotence.  Peter,  on  his 
first  coming  in,  asked  Ananias  how  he  could  suffer  Satan  to 
fill  his  heart  with  such  enormous  wickedness,  as  to  think  to 
deceive  the  Holy  Ghost.  That  before  it  was  sold,  it  was 
wholly  in  his  own  power,  and  aftervrard  the  money  entirely 
at  his  own  disposal ;  so  that  his  action  was  capable  of  no 
other  interpretation  than  that  he  had  not  only  abused  and 
injured  man,  but  mocked  the  Almighty  himself,  who  he 
must  know  was  privy  to  his  most  secret  thoughts.  The 
apostle  had  no  sooner  finished,  than  Ananias,  to  the  gi'eat 
surprise  of  all  who  were  present,  fell  down  dead  by  a  stroke 
from  heaven. 

Not  long  after  this  his  wife  came  in,  whom  Peter  reproved 
in  the  same  manner  he  did  her  husband,  adding  that  she 
should  immediately  end  her  life  in  the  same  manner ;  upon 
which  she  was  smitten  by  the  hand  of  Omnipotence,  and  fell 
down  dead,  sharing  with  her  husband  in  the  punishment,  as 
she  had  before  in  the  heinous  crime. 

But  such  instances  of  severity  were  very  extraordinary ; 
the  power  of  the  apostles  was  generally  exerted  in  works  of 
mercy  and  beneficence  toward  the  sons  and  daughters  of  af- 
fliction.     They  cured  all  kinds  of  diseases,   and  cast  out 


PETER.  329 

devils,  so  that  tliej  brought  the  sick  into  the  st/eets,  and  laid 
them  upon  beds  and  couches,  that  the  shadow  at  least,  of 
Peter,  as  he  passed  by,  might  cover  some  of  them;  well 
knowing  that  a  single  touch  or  word  was  sufficient  to  remove 
the  most  inveterate  disease. 

The  apostles  were  again  interrupted  in  their  work,  by  the 
interference  of  the  rulers,  who  put  them  in  prison. 

Their  power,  however,  was  limited,  and  like  the  drop  of  a 
bucket  to  the  ocean,  when  opposed  to  the  Almighty  arm  of 
the  great  Jehovah. 

The  prison  doors,  though  fastened  with  the  utmost  caution, 
opened  of  themselves  at  the  approach  of  a  messenger  from 
the  courts  of  heaven,  who  commanded  the  apostles  to  leave 
the  dungeon,  repair  to  the  temple,  and  preach  the  glad  tidings 
of  the  gospel  to  the  people. 

The  officers,  returning  in  the  morning,  found  the  prison 
doors  shut  and  guarded,  but  the  prisoners  were  gone. 

This  remarkable  circumstance  greatly  alarmed  them,  and 
they  repaired  to  the  council  to  acquaint  them  with  what  had 
haj)pened.  The  rulers  were  astonished  at  the  news;  but 
hearing  that  the  apostles  were  preaching  in  the  temple,  they 
sent  an  officer  to  bring  them,  with  the  least  violence  to  their 
persons,  before  the  Sanhedrim.  Their  orders  were  soon 
obeyed,  and  the  disciples  of  Jesus  placed  before  the  same 
court  that  had  so  lately  condemned  their  Master. 

The  high  priest  asked  them  how  they  dared  to  propagate 
a  doctrine  they  had  lately  so  strictly  charged  them  not  to 
preach ;  to  which  Peter,  with  characteristic  boldness  replied, 
"  We  certainly  ought  to  obey  God,  rather  than  man." 

Thus  true  was  Peter's  devotion,  ever  after  his  bitter  re- 
pentings  which  succeeded  the  denial  of  his  Lord. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

inRACLES  PERFORMED  BY  PETER;  HIS  VISION:  SUCCESS  OF  HIS  PREACHIXO 

REMARKABLE  DELIVERAKCE  FROM  PRISON;    BANISHMENT  FROM 

ROME ;   SECOND  IMPRISONMENT,  AND  FINAL  MARTYRDOM. 

j^T^E^W|HE   apostles  who  continued  at  Jerusalem  were 


soon  informed  of  the  remarkable  success  of  tlie 
ministry  of  one  Philip,  a  deacon,  at  Samaria,  and 
thought  necessary  to  send  him  assistance. 

Accordingly  Peter  and  John  were  deputed  to 
this  infant  church ;  who,  having  prayed  and  laid  their  hands 
on  the  new  converts,  they  received  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Such  miraculous  gifts  astonished  Simon,  a  magician  of  the 
place,  and,  desirous  of  obtaining  the  same  privilege,  he  offered 
the  disciples  money  to  invest  him  with  this  power,  that  on 
whomsoever  he  laid  his  hands,  he  might  receive  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

But  Peter,  who  perceived  the  insincerity  of  his  heart, 
rejected  his  offer  with  scorn  and  detestation.  "  Thy  money," 
said  the  great  apostle,  "  perish  with  thee."  And  as  thy  heart 
is  full  of  hypocrisy  and  deceit,  thou  canst  have  no  share  nor 
portion  in  so  great  a  privilege.  Simon  was  terrified  at  the 
speech  of  Peter;  his  conscience  flew  in  his  face,  and  he 
prayed  the  apostles  to  make  intercession  for  liim  at  the  throne 
of  grace,  that  the  Almighty  might  pardon  his  sin,  and  not 
inflict  on  him  those  heavy  judgments. 

The  apostles  did  not  stay  any  longer  in  Samaria  than  was 
necessary  to  confirm  the  faith  of  the  new  converts,  and  preach 
the  gospel  in  the  adjacent  villages ;  after  which  they  returned 
to  Jerusalem. 

The  storm,  though  violent,  being  at  length  blown  over,  the 
church  enjoyed  a  time  of  calmness  and  serenity;  during 
which  Peter  went  to  visit  the  churches  lately  planted  in  those 
parts,  by  disciples  whom  the  persecution  had  dispersed. 

At  his  arrival  at  Lydda,  he  miraculously  healed  Eneas, 
who   had  been  afiiicted  with  the  palsy,  and  confined  to  his 


PETEE.  331 

bed  eight  years;  but  on  Peter  bidding  liim  arise,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus,  he  was  immediately  restored  to  perfect  health. 

The  fame  of  this  miracle  was  soon  spread  abroad,  and 
reached  Joppa,  a  seaport  town  about  six  miles  from  Lydda, 
and  the  brethren  sent  for  Peter,  on  the  following  melancholy 
occasion :  Tabitha,  whose  Greek  name  was  Dorcas,  a  woman 
venerable  for  her  piety  and  extensive  charity,  was  newly 
dead,  to  the  great  loss  of  all  mankind  who  loved  genuine 
benevolence,  especially  the  poor  and  afflicted,  who  were  sup- 
ported by  her  charity.  At  Peter's  arrival,  he  found  her 
dressed  for  the  funeral  solemnity,  and  surrounded  by  mourn- 
ful widows,  who  showed  the  coats  and  garments  wherewith 
she  had  clothed  them,  the  monuments  of  her  liberality. 

But  Peter  put  them  all  out,  and,  kneeling  down,  prayed 
with  the  utmost  fervency ;  then  turning  to  the  body,  he  com- 
manded her  to  arise ;  and  taking  her  by  the  hand,  presented 
her  in  perfect  health  to  her  friends  and  others,  who  were 
assembled  to  pay  their  last  duties  to  so  great  a  woman.  This 
miracle  confirmed  those  who  had  newly  embraced  the  gospel 
of  Jesus,  and  converted  many  more  to  the  faith. 

After  which,  he  stayed  a  considerable  time  in  Joppa,  lodg- 
ing in  the  house  of  one  Simon,  a  tanner.  During  his  abode 
in  this  city,  one  day  when  he  was  offering  up  his  prayers  to 
the  Almighty,  he  found  himself  hungry,  and  called  for  meat ; 
but  while  it  was  dressing  for  him,  he  fell  into  a  trance, 
wherein  was  presented  to  him  a  large  sheet  let  down  from 
heaven,  containing  all  sorts  of  creatures,  clean  and  unclean ; 
at  the  same  time  a  voice  said  to  him,  "Arise,  Peter;  kill,  and 
eat." 

But  this  apostle,  as  yet  tenacious  of  the  rites  and  institu- 
tions of  the  Mosaic  law,  answered,  that  his  conscience  refused 
to  comply,  having  never  eaten  any  thing  that  was  common 
or  unclean.  To  which  the  voice  replied,  that  it  was  unjust 
to  consider  that  as  common  which  God  had  cleansed. 

By  this  symbolical  representation,  Peter  was  given  to 
understand  that  the  Almighty  was  now  going  to  send  him 
on  a  new"  embassy,  which  the  Spirit  at  the  same  time  com- 
manded him  to  undertake. 


332  PETER 

"While  he  was  still  wondering  with  himself  what  the  event 
would  prove,  three  messengers  knocked  at  the  gate,  inquiring 
for  him ;  and  from  them  he  received  this  account :  that  Cor- 
nelius, a  Koraan,  captain  of  a  band  of  Italian  soldiers  at 
Ccesarea,  a  person  of  great  benevolence  and  religion,  one 
who  had  been  long  a  proselyte,  had,  by  an  immediate  com- 
mand of  God,  sent  for  him. 

Accordingly,  Peter,  accompanied  by  some  of  his  brethren, 
went  to  Cornelius,  who  had  summoned  together  his  friends 
and  kindred ;  and  at  the  apostle's  entering  his  house,  he  fell 
at  his  feet,  a  method  of  address  common  in  the  eastern  coun- 
tries. But  Peter,  who  considered  that  honor  as  due  only  to 
the  Almight}^,  lifted  him  up,  and  declared  to  the  company 
the  reason  of  his  coming,  saying,  that  he  had  lately  learned 
there  was  no  respect  of  persons  with  God. 

As  usual,  he  took  occasion  to  speak  to  the  assembled  com- 
pany, of  Christ,  and  while  thus  preaching  to  them,  the  Holy 
Ghost  .fell  on  the  greatest  part  of  his  hearers,  enabling  them 
to  speak  several  languages,  and  in  them  to  magnify  the  great 
Creator  of  the  sons  of  men. 

At  this,  the  Jews  who  accompanied  Peter  marveled  exceed- 
ingly, to  see  that  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit  were  poured  upon  the 
Gentiles;  and  Peter,  seeing  this,  told  the  company  that  he 
knew  no  reason  why  these  persons  should  not  be  baptized, 
as  they  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as  they ;  and 
accordingly  he  gave  orders  that  they  should  be ;  and  to  con- 
firm them  in  the  holy  faith  they  had  embraced,  he  stayed 
with  them  some  time. 

This  action  of  Peter  was  considered  in  various  lights  by 
the  brethren  at  Jerusalem,  who,  being  but  lately  converted 
to  the  Christian  faith,  were  zealously  attached  to  the  religious 
ceremonies  of  the  Mosaic  institutions,  and  therefore  most  of 
them  severely  charged  Peter,  at  his  return,  as  being  too 
familiar  with  the  Gentiles.  The  Jews  had  for  many  ages 
conceived  an  inveterate  opposition  against  them,  considering 
them  as  persons  hated  by  the  Almighty,  who  had  chosen 
their  own  nation  as  his  peculiar  people. 

It  is  therefore  not  strange  that  they  were  highly  displeased 


PETER.  833 

with  Peter ;  nor  would  he  have  been  aljle  to  have  defended 
]iis  conduct  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  had  not  he  been  charged 
with  a  peculiar  commission  from  the  Almighty,  for  extending 
the  privileges  of  the  gospel  to  the  Gentile  world. 

Peter,  having  thus  finished  his  visitation  to  the  newly- 
planted  churches,  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  was  indefatiga- 
ble in  instructing  his  converts  in  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and 
preaching  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  descendants  of 
Jacob. 

But  he  did  not  long  continue  in  this  pleasing  course ;  for 
the  jealous  Herod  Agrippa  cast  him  into  prison,  with  the 
intention  of  sacrificing  him  to  the  insatiate  cruelty  of  the 
Jews.  But  the  night  before  the  intended  execution,  a  mes- 
senger from  the  courts  of  heaven  visited  the  gloomy  horrors 
of  the  dungeon,  where  he  found  Peter  asleep  between  his 
keepers. 

The  angel  raised  him  up,  took  off  his  chains,  ordered  him 
to  gird  on  his  garments,  and  follow  him. 

Peter  obeyed,  and  having  passed  through  the  first  and 
second  watch,  they  came  to  the  iron  gate  leading  to  the  city, 
which  opened  to  them  of  its  own  accord. 

The  angel  also  accompanied  him  through  one  of  the  streets, 
and  then  departed  from  him ;  on  which  Peter  came  to  him- 
self, and  perceived  that  it  was  no  vision,  but  that  his  great 
and  beloved  Master  had  really  sent  a  messenger  from  above, 
and  released  him  from  prison. 

He  therefore  repaired  to  the  house  of  Mary,  where  many 
pious  persons  were  assembled,  offering  up  their  pra3^ers  to 
the  throne  of  grace  for  his  safety. 

They  were  greatly  surprised,  and  could  scarcely  believe  it, 
but  he  assured  them  of  his  identity,  and  briefly  told  them 
how  he  was  delivered,  and,  desiring  them  to  inform  his 
brethren  of  his  being  at  liberty,  he  retired  to  another  place. 

Some  time  after  this  miraculous  deliverance,  a  controversy 
arose  between  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  converts,  with  regard 
to  the  observance  of  the  Mosaic  law ;  one  party  advocating 
one  opinion,  and  the  other  a  different. 

To  compose  this  difference,  it  was  thought  necessary  to 


834  PETEB. 

summon  a  general  council  of  the  apostles  and  brethren,  to 
meet  at  Jerusalem.  This  was  done,  and  the  case  thoroughly 
debated.  At  last  Peter  stood  up,  and  declared  that  God  hav- 
ing chosen  him  out  of  all  the  apostles  to  be  the  first  preacher 
of  the  gospel  among  the  Gentiles — God,  who  was  best  able 
to  judge  of  the  hearts  of  men,  had  borne  witness  to  them 
that  they  were  accepted  of  him,  by  giving  them  his  Holy 
Spirit,  as  well  as  he  had  done  the  Jews,  and,  consequently, 
that  there  was  no  difference  between  them. 

This  declaration  of  Peter  convinced  the  church,  and  it  was 
unanimously  decreed  that  no  other  burden  than  the  strict 
observance  of  a  few  particular  precepts,  equally  convenient 
to  the  Jew  and  Gentile,  should  be  imposed  on  them. 

And  the  decision  was  drawn  up  into  a  synodical  epistle, 
and  sent  to  the  several  churches,  for  allaying  the  heats  and 
controversies  this  dispute  had  occasioned. 

Soon  after  this  council,  Peter  left  Jerusalem,  and  went 
down  to  Antioch,  where,  using  the  liberty  given  him  by  the 
gospel,  he  freely  ate  and  conversed  with  the  Gentile  prose- 
lytes, considering  them  now  as  "fellow  citizens  with  the 
saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God." 

Paul,  being  present,  resolutely  opposed  Peter  to  his  face, 
and  publicly  reproved  him,  as  a  person  worthy  to  be  blamed 
for  his  gross  prevarication. 

Some  time  before  this  contest,  Peter  preached  the  gospel 
in  various  parts  of  the  world,  enlarging  the  kingdom  of  his 
great  Master,  and  spreading  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation 
among  the  inhabitants  of  various  countries ;  and  among  the 
rest,  those  of  Eome,  then  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

In  that  capital  he  is  said  to  have  continued  several  years, 
till  the  emperor  Claudius,  taking  advantage  of  some  seditious 
tumults  raised  by  the  Jews,  published  an  edict,  whereby  they 
were  banished  from  Eome,  and  of  course  Peter  with  them. 

He  returned  to  Jerusalem,  but  how  long  he  continued  in 
the  capital  of  Judea  is  uncertain ;  for  we  have  no  account 
of  his  transactions  for  many  years.  This,  however,  is  cer- 
tain, that  he  was  not  idle  in  the  service  of  his  great  Master : 
and  Eusebius  tells  us,  from  Metaphrastes,  that  he  visited 


PETER,  835 

several  of  the  western  parts,  particularly  the  island  of  Great 
Britain,  where  he  continued  several  years,  spreading  the  gos- 
pel in  these  remote  places,  and  converting  these  nations  to 
the  christian  faith.  But,  however  this  be,  whether  he  was, 
or  was  not  in  these  parts,  it  is  certain  that  toward  the  latter 
end  of  Nero's  reign,  he  returned  to  Eome,  where  he  found 
the  minds  of  the  people  strangely  bewildered  with  the  sorce- 
ries of  Simon  Magus,  who,  as  has  been  observed,  was  chas- 
tised by  Peter  for  his  wickedness. 

Foreseeing  that  the  calumnies  of  Simon  and  his  adherents 
would  hasten  his  death,  Peter  took  the  greater  pains,  and 
was  still  more  assiduous  to  confirm  those  he  had  been  in  any 
way  instrumental  in  converting  to  the  sublime  truths  they 
had  received ;  and,  in  order  to  this,  he  strongly  opposed  that 
great  deceiver  of  mankind ;  for  in  the  last  years  of  his  life, 
he  seems  to  have  written  his  two  epistles  to  the  dispersed 
Jews  in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  and  Bythinia;  and  in 
an  appointed  encounter  with  Simon,  discovered  his  magical 
impostures,  and,  through'  the  power  and  assistance  of  the 
Almighty,  brought  him  to  a  miserable  death. 

No  sooner  had  this  reached  the  emperor's  ears,  than  he 
vowed  revenge,  both  for  the  death  of  his  favorite,  and  the 
endeavors  the  apostles  used  in  turning  men  to  the  christian 
faith. 

Accordingly  he  issued  orders  for  apprehending  Peter, 
together  with  his  companion,  Paul.  The  people  earnestly 
desired  Peter  to  escape  from  impending  danger,  and  with 
great  reluctance,  it  is  said,  he  yielded  to  their  entreaties,  and 
made  his  escape  by  night ;  but  as  he  passed  the  gate,  he  was 
met  by  a  person  in  the  form  of  his  great  and  beloved  Master, 
and  on  his  asking  him  whither  he  was  going,  answered,  "  To 
Eome,  to  be  crucified  a  second  time ;"  which  Peter  taking  for 
a  reproof  of  his  cowardice,  returned  again  into  the  city,  and 
was  soon  after  apprehended,  and  cast,  together  with  Paul, 
into  the  Mamertine  prison.  Here  they  were  confined  eight 
or  nine  months,  but  spent  their  time  in  the  exercises  of  reli- 
gion, especially  in  preaching  to  the  prisoners  and  those  who 
resorted  to  them ;  and  during  this  confinement  it  is  generally 


836  PETER. 

thought  Peter  wrote  the  second  epistle  to  the  dispersed  Jews ; 
wherein  he  endeavors  to  confirm  them  in  the  behef  and  prac- 
tice of  Christianity,  and  to  fortify  them  against  those  poison- 
ous and  pernicious  principles  and  actions  which  even  then 
began  to  break  in  upon  the  christian  church. 

Nero,  at  last,  returning  from  Achaia,  entered  Eome  in 
triumph,  and  soon  after  his  arrival,  resolved  that  the  apostles 
should  fall  as  victims  to  his  cruelty  and  revenge. 

Their  friends  ceased  not  to  importune  heaven  for  their 
safety,  but  the  Almighty  was  now  willing  to  put  an  end  to 
their  sorrows,  and,  after  sealing  the  truth  they  had  preached 
with  their  own  blood,  to  receive  them  into  the  regions  of 
eternal  bliss  and  happiness,  and  exchange  their  crowns  of 
martyrdom  for  crowns  of  glory.. 

They  were  both  condemned  by  the  cruel  emperor  of 
Eome ;  and  Peter  having  taken  his  farewell  of  his  brethren, 
especially  of  Paul,  was  taken  from  prison,  and  led  to  the  top 
of  the  Vatican  Mount,  near  the  Tiber,  where  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  surrender  his  life  upon,  the  cross.  At  his  coming 
to  the  place  of  execution,  he  begged  the  favor  of  the  officers 
that  he  might  not  be  crucified  in  the  common  manner,  but 
with  his  head  downward ;  affirming  that  he  was  unworthy  to 
suffer  in  the  same  posture  in  which  his  Lord  had  suffered 
before  him. 

Tliis  request  was  complied  with,  and  the  great  apostle 
Peter  surrendered  up  his  soul  into  the  hands  of  his  great 
and  beneficent  Master,  who  came  down  from  heaven  to  ran- 
som mankind  from  destruction,  and  open  for  them  the  gates 
of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 

His  bod}^,  being  taken  down  from  the  cross,  is  said  to  have 
been  embalmed  by  Marcelinus,  the  presbyter,  after  the  man- 
ner of  the  JeAvs,  and  then  buried  in  the  Yatican,  near  the 
Appian  way,  two  miles  from  Rome.  Here  it  remained  till 
the  time  of  Pope  Cornelius,  who  re-conveyed  it  to  Rome, 
where  it  rested  in  an  obscure  place  until  the  reign  of  Constan- 
tine,  who,  for  the  great  reverence  he  entertained  for  the  chris- 
tian I'eligiou,  erected  many  churches  at  Rome,  and  rebuilt 
and  greatly  enlarged  the  Vatican  in  honor  of  Peter. 


PETER.  337 

Thus  lived  and  died,  Simon  Peter,  called  to  be  an  apostle 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  at  length  to  offer  up  his  life  in  ratifica- 
tion of  the  doctrines  he  had  delivered,  and  the  faith  he  had 
maintained  and  propagated. 

If  we  consider  Peter  as  a  man,  there  seems  to  have  been  a 
natural  eagerness  predominant  in  his  temper,  which  animated 
his  soul  to  the  most  bold  and  sometimes  rash  undertakings. 
It  was  this,  in  a  great  measure,  that  prompted  him  to  be  so 
very  forward  to  speak,  and  to  return  answers  sometimes 
before  he  well  considered  them. 

If  we  consider  him  as  a  disciple  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  we 
shall  find  him  exemplary  in  the  great  duties  of  religion.  His 
humility  and  lowliness  of  mind  were  remarkable. 

With  what  a  compassionate  earnestness,  on  the  conviction 
of  a  miracle,  did  he  beg  the  Saviour  to  depart  from  him ; 
thinking  it  unworthy  the  Son  of  God  to  come  near  so  vile  a 
sinner ! 

When  Jesus,  by  that  amazing  condescension,  stooped  so 
low  as  to  wash  his  disciples'  feet,  Peter  could  not  be  persua- 
ded to  admit  his  performing  it,  thinking  it  highly  improper 
that  so  great  a  person  should  submit  to  such  a  servile  office 
toward  a  person  so  mean  as  himself;  nor  could  he  be  induced 
to  admit  of  it,  till  his  Master  threatened  to  deprive  him  of 
his  favor. 

If  we  consider  him,  too,  as  an  apostle,  as  pastor,  or  shep- 
herd of  the  souls  of  men,  we  shall  find  him  faithful  and  dil- 
igent in  his  ofiice,  zealously  endeavoring  to  instruct  the  igno- 
rant, reduce  the  erroneous,  strengthen  the  weak,  confirm  the 
strong,  reclaim  the  vicious,  and  turn  the  children  of  men 
into  the  ways  of  righteousness. 

With  what  unconquerable  patience  did  he  endure  the 
greatest  trials,  surmount  every  difficulty,  and  remove  every 
opposition,  that  he  might  plant  the  gospel  of  his  beloved 
Master, — never  refusing  to  lay  down  his  life  to  promote  it ! 

Nor  was  he  only  assiduous  in  performing  these  duties  him- 
self, but  sought  by  every  possible  means  to  induce  others  to 
similar  faithfulness.  And  because  it  was  impossible  to  be 
always  present,  he  endeavored  by  letters  to  imprint  on  their 

22 


838  PAUL. 

minds  ttie  practice  of  what  had  been  taught ;  a  method  he 
tells  us  he  was  resolved  to  pursue  as  long  as  he  continued  an 
inhabitant  of  this  world,  that  so  they  might  be  able,  after  his 
decease,  to  have  them  always  in  remembrance. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


EARLY  HISTORY  OF  PAUL ;    CONVERSION  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  FAITH;    LABORS 

IN  THE  GOOD  CAUSE  IMMEDIATELY  AFTER  HIS  CONVERSION;    COUNCIL 

HELD  AT  JERUSALEM. 

]HIS  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  was  a  native  of 
Tarsus,  and  a  descendant  from  the  ancient  stock 
of  Abraham.  He  was  born  about  two  years 
before  the  blessed  Jesus,  and  belonged  to  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  the  youngest  son  of  Jacob, 
who  thus  prophesied  of  him :  "  Benjamin  shall  ravin  as  a 
wolf;  in  the  morning  he  shall  devour  the  prey,  and  at  night 
he  shall  divide  the  spoil." 

A  prophetical  character,  which  Tertullian  and  others  will 
have  to  be  accomplished  in  this  apostle. 

For,  in  his  youth,  or  morning  of  his  days,  he  persecuted 
the  churches,  destroying  the  flock  of  the  Almighty ;  he  de- 
voured the  prey.  In  his  declining  age,  or  evening  of  his 
days,  he  became  a  physician  of  the  nations,  feeding  and  dis- 
tributing, with  the  greatest  care  and  assiduity,  the  sheep  of 
Christ,  -that  great  Shepherd  of  Israel :  he  divided  the  spoil. 

Tarsus  was  a  place  invested  with  the  privileges  of  Eome, 
and  Paul  therefore  was  born  a  Eoman  citizen,  and  he  often 
pleads  this  privilege  on  his  trials. 

It  was  common  for  the  inhabitants  of  Tarsus,  to  send  their 
children  into  other  cities  for  learning  and  improvement,  es- 
pecially to  Jerusalem,  where  they  were  so  numerous  that 
they  had  a  synagogue  of  their  own,  called  the  Synagogue  of 
the  Cilicians.     To  this  capital  Paul  was  sent,  and  brought  up 


PAUL.  839 

at  the  feet  of  that  eminent  Eabbi,  Gamaliel,  in  the  most 
exact  knowledge  of  the  law  of  Moses. 

Nor  did  he  fail  to  profit  by  the  instructions  of  that  great 
master ;  for  he  so  diligently  conformed  himself  to  its  precepts, 
that,  without  boasting,  he  asserts  of  himself  that,  touching 
the  righteousness  of  the  law,  he  was  blameless,  and  defied 
even  his  enemies  to  alledge  any  thing  to  the  contrary,  even  in 
his  youth.  He  joined  himself  to  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees, 
the  most  strict  order  of  the  Jewish  religion ;  but  at  the  same 
time  the  proudest,  and  the  greatest  enemies  to  Christ  and  his 
holy  religion. 

With  regard  to  his  double  capacity  of  Jewish  extraction 
and  Eoman  freedom,  he  had  two  names,  Saul  and  Paul — the 
former  Hebrew,  and  the  latter  Latin. 

It  was  common  for  the  descendants  of  Benjamin,  to  give  the 
name  Saul  to  their  children  ever  since  the  time  of  the  first 
king  of  Israel,  who  was  chosen  out  of  that  tribe ;  and  Paul 
was  a  name  as  common  among  the  Romans. 

We  must  also  consider  his  trade  of  tent-making  as  a  part 
of  his  education,  it  being  the  constant  practice  of  the  Jews  to 
bring  up  their  children  to  some  honest .  calling,  that  in  case 
of  necessity  they  might  provide  for  themselves  by  the  labor 
of  their  own  hands. 

Saul  having  obtained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  sciences 
cultivated  by  the  Jews,  and  being  naturally  of  a  very  hot  and 
fiery  temper,  became  a  great  champion  of  the  law  of  Moses,  and 
the  traditions  of  the  elders,  which  he  considered  as  zeal  for 
God.  This  rendered  him  impatient  of  all  opposition  to  the 
doctrine  and  tenets  he  had  imbibed,  and  a  vehement  perse- 
cutor of  the  christians,  who  -^vere  commonly  reputed  the 
enemies  and  destroyers  of  the  Jewish  economy. 

We  must  not,  however,  consider  this  apostle  as  guilty  of 
the  pride  and  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees;  for  he  declares 
that  he  had  ever  been  careful  to  act  in  conformity  to  the  dic- 
tates of  his  conscience,  by  which  he  thought  himself  bound 
to  do  "many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth." 

It  was  therefore  the  prejudices  of  his  education,  and  the 


340  PAUL. 

natural  warmth  of  his  temper,  that  excited  him  to  those  vio- 
lent persecutions  of  the  christians  for  which  he  became  so 
famous. 

The  first  action  we  find  him  engaged  in  was  the  disputation 
he  and  his  countrymen  had  with  the  Martyr  Stephen,  with 
regard  to  the  Messiah. 

The  christian  was  too  hard  for  them  in  the  dispute ;  but 
they  were  too  powerful  for  him  in  their  civil  interests ;  for 
being  enraged  at  his  convincing  arguments,  they  carried  him 
before  the  high  priest,  who  by  false  accusations  condemned 
him  to  death. 

How  far  Saul  was  concerned  in  this  cruel  action,  it  is  im 
possible  for  us  to  say ;  all  we  know  is,  that  he  kept  the  rai- 
ment of  them  that  slew  him. 

The  storm  of  persecution  against  the  church  being  thus 
begun,  it  increased  prodigiously,  and  the  poor  christians  at 
Jerusalem,  were  miserably  harassed  and  dispersed.  In  this 
persecution  our  apostle  was  a  principal  agent,  searching  all 
the  adjacent  parts  for  the  afflicted  saints,  beating  some  in  the 
synagogue,  inflicting  other  cruelties,  confining  some  in  prison, 
and  procuring  others  to  be  put  to  death. 

Nor  could  Jerusalem  and  the  adjacent  parts  confine  his 
fiery  zeal;  he  applied  to  the  Sanhedrim,  and  procured  a 
commission  from  that  court  to  extend  his  persecution  to  Da- 
mascus. How  infernally  insatiable  is  the  fury  of  a  misguided 
zeal !  how  restless  and  unwearied  in  its  designs  of  cruelty ! 
It  had  already  sufl&ciently  harassed  the  poor  christians  at 
Jerusalem ;  but  not  content  Avith  this,  it  persecuted  them 
even  to  strange  cities,  even  to  Damascus  itself,  whither  many 
of  them  had  fled  for  shelter,  resolving  to  bring  them  back  to 
Jerusalem,  in  order  to  their  punishment  and  execution. 

Saul  was  sent  to  apprehend  what  christians  he  could  find, 
but  it  was  the  will  of  Providence  that  he  should  be  employed 
in  a  work  of  a  very  different  nature,  and  accordingly  he  was 
stopped  in  his  journey ;  for  as  he  was  traveling  between  Je- 
rusalem and  Damascus  to  execute  the  commission  of  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrim,  a  refulgent  light,  far  exceeding  the 
brightness  of  the  sun,  darted  upon  him,  at  which  both  he  and 


PAUL.  341 

liis  companions  were  terribly  amazed  and  confounded,  and 
immediately  fell  prostrate  on  the  ground. 

Wliile  they  lay  in  this  state,  a  voice  was  heard  in  the  He- 
brew language,  saying,  "Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou 
me?"  To  which  Saul  replied,  "Who  art  thou.  Lord?" 
And  was  immediately  answered,  "I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou 
persecutest.     It  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the  pricks." 

As  if  Jesus  had  said,  "  All  thy  attempts  to  extirpate  the 
faith  iu  me  will  prove  abortive,  and,  like  kicking  against  the 
spikes,  wound  and  torment  thyself." 

Saul  was  sufficiently  convinced  of  his  folly  in  acting 
against  Jesus,  whom  he  was  now  assured  to  be  the  Messiah, 
and  asked  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do  ?" — when 
the  Lord  replied,  "Arise,  and  go  into  the  city,  and  it  shall 
be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do." 

The  apostle  now  arose  from  the  earth,  but  found  himself 
deprived  of  sight,  the  resplendent  brightness  of  the  vision 
being  too  intense  for  mortal  eyes  to  behold.  His  companions, 
therefore,  led  him  by  the  hand  to  the  city  of  Damascus, 
where  he  entered  the  house  of  Judas,  and  remained  there 
three  days  without  sight,  nor  did  he  either  eat  or  drink,  but 
spent  his  time  in  prayer  to  the  Almighty,  beseeching  him  to 
pardon  the  sins  of  his  ignorance  and  blinded  zeal. 

In  the  meantime  the  Saviour  commissioned  one  Ananias, 
a  devout  man,  to  go  unto  Saul,  to  restore  his  sight,  and  pro- 
claim unto  him  the  will  of  God. 

This  was  no  sooner  pronounced  than  there  fell  down  from 
his  e3'-es  thick  films  resembling  scales,  and  he  received  his 
sight ;  and  after  baptism  conversed  freely  with  the  christians 
of  Damascus.  Nor  did  he  only  converse  with  them ;  he  also, 
to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  whole  church,  preached  the 
gospel  to  those  christians  he  came  with  an  intention  to  de- 
stroy, at  the  same  time  boldly  asserting  that  "Jesus  was  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;"  and  proving  it  to  the  Jews,  with 
such  demonstrative  evidence,  that  they  were  confounded, 
and  were  utterly  unable  to  answer  him. 

At  the  instance  of  the  Divine  command,  this  miraculous 
convert  retired  into  Arabia  Petraea,  where  he  received  a  full 


842  PAUL. 

revelation  of  all  the  mysteries  of  Christianity ;  for  he  himself 
declares  that  he  conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood. 

Having  preached  in  several  parts  of  the  country  for  some 
time,  he  returned  again  to  Damascus,  applying  himself  with 
the  utmost  assiduity  to  the  great  work  of  the  ministry,  fre- 
quenting the  synagogues  there,  powerfully  confuting  the  ob- 
jections commonly  made  by  the  descendants  of  Jacob  against 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  converting  great  numbers  of  Jews 
and  Gentiles. 

He  was,  indeed,  remarkably  zealous  in  his  preaching,  and 
blessed  with  a  very  extraordinary  method  of  reasoning, 
whereby  he  proved  the  essential  doctrines  of  Christianity  be- 
yond exception.  This  irritated  the  Jews  to  the  highest  de- 
gree ;  and  at  length,  after  two  or  three  years'  continuance  in 
those  parts,  they  found  means  to  prevail  on  the  governor  of 
Damascus  to  have  him  put  to  death.  But  they  knew  it 
would  be  difficult  to  take  him,  as  he  had  so  many  friends  in 
the  city;  they  therefore  kept  themselves  in  a  continual 
watch,  searched  all  the  houses  where  they  supposed  he  might 
conceal  himself,  and  also  obtained  a  guard  from  the  governor 
to  observe  the  gates,  in  order  to  prevent  his  escaping  from 
them.  In  this  distress,  his  christian  friends  were  far  from 
deserting  him ;  they  tried  every  method  that  offered  to  pro- 
cure his  escape ;  but  finding  it  impossible  for  him  to  pass 
through  either  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  they  let  him  down 
from  one  of  their  houses  through  a  window  in  a  basket  over 
the  wall,  by  which  means  the  cruel  designs  of  his  enemies 
were  rendered  abortive. 

Having  thus  escaped  from  his  malicious  persecutors,  he 
repaired  to  Jerusalem,  and  on  his  arrival  addressed  himself 
to  the  church.  But  they,  knowing  well  the  former  temper 
and  principles  of  this  great  persecutor,  shunned  his  company, 
till  Barnabas  brought  him  to  Peter,  who  was  not  yet  cast 
into  prison,  and  to  James,  bisliop  of  Jerusalem,  informing 
them  of  his  miraculous  conversion,  and  that  he  had  preached 
the  gospel  with  the  greatest  boldness  in  the  synagogue  of 
Damascus ;  upon  which  they  gladly  received  him,  and  famil- 
iarly entertained  him  fifteen  days. 


PAUL.  343 

During  tMs  interval,  he  was  remarkably  assiduous  in 
preaching  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  in  confuting  the 
Jews  with  the  greatest  courage  and  resolution.  But  snares 
were  soon  laid  for  him,  as  malice  can  as  easily  cease  to  be, 
as  to  remain  inactive ;  and  being  warned  by  God  in  a  vision 
that  his  testimony  would  not  be  received  at  Jerusalem,  he 
thought  proper  to  depart,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles. 

Accordingly,  being  conducted  by  the  brethren  to  Cesarea 
Philippi,  he  set  sail  for  Tarsus,  his  native  city,  from  whence 
he  was  soon  after  brought  by  Barnabas  to  Antioch,  to  assist 
him  in  propagating  Christianity  in  that  city.  In  this  em- 
ployment he  spent  one  whole  year,  and  had  the  satisfaction 
of  seeing  the  gospel  flourish  in  a  remarkable  manner. 

About  this  time  a  terrible  famine,  foretold  by  Agabus, 
happened  in  several  parts  of  the  Eoraan  empire,  particularly 
in  Judea,  which  induced  the  christians  at  Antioch  to  com- 
passionate the  miseries  of  their  brethren  at  Jerusalem.  They 
accordingly  raised  considerable  contributions  for  their  relief, 
which  they  sent  to  the  capital  of  Judea,  by  the  hands  of  Bar- 
nabas and  Saul,  who,  immediately  after  executing  their  com- 
mission, returned  to  Antioch. 

But  while  they  were  performing  the  public  exercises  of 
religion,  it  was  revealed  to  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  they 
should  set  apart  Barnabas  and  Saul  to  preach  the  gospel  in 
other  places;  which  was  accordingly  done,  and  they  were 
immediately  deputed  for  that  service  by  prayer,  fasting,  and 
the  imposition  of  hands. 

The  first  place  they  visited  was  Selucia,  where  they  did 
not  continue  long,  but  sailed  for  Cyprus,  where  they  met  with 
remarkable  success,  after  which,  Paul  repaired  to  Phrygia  in 
Pamphylia,  and,  taking  Titus  with  him  in  the  room  of  Mark, 
who  was  gone  to  Jerusalem,  traveled  to  Antioch,  the  me- 
tropolis of  Pisidia.  Soon  after  their  arrival,  they  entered  the 
synagogue  of  the  Jews  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  after  the 
reading  of  the  law,  Paul,  being  invited  by  the  rulers,  spoke 
to  the  people  of  God's  doings,  with  his  people  Israel;  the 
prophecies  concerning  Christ,  and  the  way  of  salvation 
through  him. 


844:  PAUL. 

This  spirited  address  of  the  great  apostle  carried  with  it  its 
own  weight,  and  obtained  from  the  converted  Gentiles  a  re- 
quest that  it  should  again  be  delivered  the  ensuing  Sabbath ; 
when  almost  the  whole  city  flocked  to  hear  the  apostle ;  at 
which  the  Jews  were  filled  with  envy,  and  contradicted  Paul, 
uttering  many  blasphemous  expressions  against  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  But  their  opposition  could  not  daunt  the  apostles, 
who  boldly  declared  their  Divine  commission  to  preach  the 
gospel,  first  to  the  Jews,  but  as  they  so  obstinately  rejected 
it,  they  were  now  to  address  themselves  to  the  Gentiles ;  who, 
hearing  this,  rejoiced  exceedingly,  magnifying  the  words  of 
the  Almighty,  and  many  of  them  embraced  the  doctrines  of 
the  gospel.  This  increased  the  malice  and  fury  of  the  Jews, 
who,  by  false  and  artful  insinuations,  prevailed  on  some  of 
the  more  bigoted  and  honorable  women  to  bring  over  their 
husbands  to  their  party,  by  which  means  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  driven  out  of  the  city. 

At  which  the  apostles  departed,  shaking  off  the  dust  of 
their  feet,  as  a  testimony  of  the  sense  they  had  of  the  ingrati- 
tude and  infidelity  of  the  Jews. 

From  Antioch  they  went  to  Iconium,  the  metropolis  of 
Lycaonia,  a  province  of  the  Lesser  Asia,  where  they  again 
entered  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  notwithstanding 
the  ill-treatment  they  had  met  with  from  them  in  other 
places ;  for  so  great  was  their  zeal  for  the  gospel,  that  they 
were  not  to  be  deterred  from  preaching  it  by  ill-usage,  how- 
ever violent. 

Their  success  encouraged  them  to  continue  a  considerable 
time  in  this  city,  to  instruct  the  converts,  and  confirm  their 
faith  by  miracles.  But  Jewish  malice  and  envy  were  soon 
stirred  up  against  them  with  evil  design ;  and  the  apostles 
having  timely  notice  of  it,  fled  from  the  city,  and  traveled 
to  Lystra,  where  they  preached  the  gospel  to  the  inhabitants, 
and  those  who  dwelt  in  the  adjacent  country. 

Among  the  converts  at  Lystra,  was  a  man  who  had  been 
lame  from  his  mother's  womb,  and  had  never  walked.  Paul, 
perceiving  that  he  had  faith  to  be  saved,  thought  proper  to 
add  the  cure  of  his  body  to  that  of  his  soul,  knowing  that  it 


^0- 


PAUL.  845 

would  not  only  be  beneficial  to  bim,  but  to  all  the  rest  of  the 
believers,  by  confirming  their  faith ;  and,  that  the  miracle 
might  be  wrought  in  the  most  conspicuous  manner,  he,  in 
the  midst  of  the  congregation,  said,  in  an  audible  voice  to 
the  man,  "Stand  upright  on  thy  feet;"  and  the  words  were 
no  sooner  pronounced  than  his  strength  was  at  once  restored, 
and  he  leaped  up  and  walked. 

The  people  who  beheld  this  miracle  well  knew  that  it  was 
not  wrought  by  any  human  power;  but  having  been  ini- 
tiated into  the  superstitious  customs  of  the  heathen,  they  cried 
out,  "  The  gods  are  come  down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of  men." 
Accordingly  they  called  Barnabas,  Jupiter,  because  of  his 
venerable  gravity,  and  Paul,  Mercury,  from  his  eloquence. 
Nor  was  it  long  before  the  whole  city  resounded  with  acclama- 
tions ;  so  that  almost  all  the  inhabitants  gathered  themselves 
together,  and,  preceded  by  the  priest  of  Jupiter,  and  oxen 
dressed  in  garlands,  they  came  to  the  house  where  the 
apostles  were,  intending  to  do  sacrifice  unto  them.  !6ut  as 
soon  as  the  apostles  understood  their  design,  they  were 
greatly  afflicted  at  this  idolatrous  design,  and,  rending 
their  clothes,  to  express  their  grief  and  abhorrence  of  the  ac- 
tion, ran  to  them,  crying  out,  "  Ye  men  of  Lystra,  ye  are 
mistaken  in  the  object  of  your  worship ;  for  though  we  have 
done  many  miracles  in  the  name  and  by  the  power  of  Christ, 
yet  we  are  no  more  than  men,  and  subject  to  the  same 
passions  with  yourselves,  and  preach  unto  you  the  glad 
tidings  of  salvation,  that  ye  may  forsake  the  vanities  of  this 
world,  and  turn  to  the  living  God,  who  created  the  heaven 
and  the  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  the  creatures  they  contain. 

This  argument  of  the  apostles'  had  the  desired  effect ;  and 
the  people  were  at  last,  though  with  difficulty,  persuaded  to 
lay  aside  their  intended  idolatrous  sacrifice. 

The  apostles  indefatigably  persevered  in  the  execution  of 
their  important  commission,  declaring  wherever  they  went 
the  glad  tidings  of  salvation,  through  repentance  unto  life, 
and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

But  the  malice  of  the  Jews  still  pursued  them ;  for  some  of 
these  bigoted  Israelites,  coming  from  Antioch  and  Iconium, 


346  PAUL. 

exasperated  and  stirred  up  the  multitude,  so  that  those 
very  persons  who  could  hardly  be  restrained  from  offering 
sacrifice  to  them,  now  used  them  like  slaves,  stoning  them  in 
so  cruel  a  manner  that  Paul  was  thought  to  be  dead,  and  as 
such  they  dragged  him  out  of  the  city;  but  while  the 
christians  of  Lystra  were  attending  on  his  body,  probably  in 
order  to  carry  him  to  the  grave,  he  arose,  and  returned  with 
them  into  the  city ;  and  the  next  day  departed  with  Barna- 
bas to  Derbe,  where  they  preached  the  gospel  and  converted 
many — no  danger  being  able  to  terrify  them  from  the  work 
of  the  ministry. 

Having  visited  several  places,  and  finished  the  circuit  of 
their  ministry,  they  returned  back  to  Antioch  in  Syria,  from 
whence  they  at  first  departed.  Here  they  summoned  the 
church,  and  gave  them  an  account  of  their  ministry,  the 
success  it  had  met  with  in  these  different  parts,  and  how 
great  a  door  had  thus  been  opened  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Gentile  world. 

While  Paul  continued  at  Antioch,  that  famous  controversy, 
with  regard  to  the  observation  of  the  Jewish  ceremonies 
under  the  Christian  dispensation,  was  set  on  foot  by  certain 
Jewish  converts,  to  the  great  disturbance  of  the  whole 
church.  And  it  was  determined  to  send  Paul  and  Barnabas 
to  consult  with  the  apostles  and  church  at  Jerusalem,  that 
this  affair  might  be  settled  on  the  most  solid  foundation.  On 
their  arrival,  they  first  addressed  themselves  to  Peter,  James 
and  John,  the  pillars  of  that  church,  by  whom  they  were 
kindly  entertained,  and  admitted  to  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship. Perceiving  by  the  account  given  them  by  Paul,  that 
the  gospel  of  the  uncircumcision  was  committed  to  him,  as 
that  of  the  circumcision  was  to  Peter,  they  agreed  that  Peter 
should  preach  to  the  Jews,  and  Paul  to  the  Gentiles. 

This  being  determined,  a  council  was  summoned,  wherein 
Peter  declared  his  opinion,  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  acquainted 
them  with  the  gi-eat  things  God,  by  their  ministry,  had  done 
among  the  Gentiles — a  plain  evidence  that  they  were  ac- 
cepted by  the  Almighty,  though  uncircumcised,  as  well  as 
the  Jews,  with  all  their  legal  rights  and  privileges. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PREACHING  AT  ATHENS;    SUCCESS  OF  MINISTRY  AT  CORINTH  AND  EPHESUS; 

DEPARTURE  PROM  EPHESUS  APTER  THREE  YEARS'  RESIDENCE; 

ARRAIGNED  BEFORE  FELIX ;    CONFINED  IN  THE 

JUDGMENT  HALL. 


^HE  controversy  concerning  the  observation  of 
Jewish  ceremonies  in  the  christian  church  being 
decided  in  favor  of  Paul,  he  and  his  companions 
returned  back  to  Antioch ;  and  soon  after,  Peter 
himself  came  down. 

On  reading  the  decretal  epistle  in  the  church,  the  converts 
conversed  freely  and  inoffensively  with  the  Gentiles,  till 
some  of  the  Jews  coming  thither  from  Jerusalem,  Peter 
withdrew  his  conversation,  as  if  it  had  been  a  thing  unwar- 
rantable and  unlawful.  By  such  a  strange  method  of  pro- 
ceeding, the  minds  of  many  were  dissatisfied,  and  their  con- 
sciences very  uneasy.  Paul  with  the  greatest  concern  ob- 
served it,  and  publicly  rebuked  Peter,  with  that  sharpness 
and  severity  his  unwarrantable  practice  deserved. 

Soon  after  this  dispute,  Paul  and  Barnabas  resolved  to 
visit  the  churches  they  had  planted  among  the  Gentiles,  and 
Barnabas  was  desirous  of  taking  with  them  his  cousin  Mark ; 
but  this  Paul  strenuously  opposed,  as  he  had  left  them  in 
their  former  journey.  This  trifling  dispute  arose  to  such  a 
height,  that  these  two  great  apostles  and  fellow-laborers  in 
the  gospel  parted. 

Barnabas,  taking  Mark  with  him,  repaired  to  Cyprus,  his 
native  country :  and  Paul,  having  made  choice  of  Silas,  and 
recommended  the  success  of  his  undertaking  to  the  care  of 
Divine  Providence,  set  forward  on  his  intended  journey. 

They  first  visited  the  churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,  con- 
firming them  in  the  faith  by  their  instructions  and  exhorta- 
tions. Hence  they  sailed  to  Crete,  where  Paul  preached  the 
gospel,  and  constituted  Titus  as  the  first  bishop  and  pastor 
of  the  island,  leaving  him  to  settle  those  affairs  of  the  church 


348  PAUL. 

vvliich  time  would  not  permit  the  apostle  to  settle  himself 
From  this  place  they  returned  back  into  Cilicia,  and  came  to 
Lystra,  where  they  found  Timothy,  whose  father  was  a  Greek, 
but  his  mother  a  Jewish  convert,  and  by  her  he  had  been 
brought  up  under  all  the  advantages  of  a  pious  and  religious 
education,  especially  with  regard  to  the  holy  Scriptures,  which 
he  had  studied  with  the  greatest  assiduity  and  success. 

This  person  Paul  designed  for  the  companion  of  his  trav 
els,  and  a  special  instrument  in  the  ministry  of  the  gospel. 
But  knowing  that  his  being  uncircumcised  would  prove  a 
stumbling  block  to  the  Jews,  he  caused  him  to  be  circum- 
cised; being  willing,  in  lawful  and  indifferent  matters,  to 
conform  himself  to  the  tempers  and  apprehensions  of  men, 
in  order  to  save  their  souls. 

In  this  instance  the  apostle  evinced  much  prudence,  well 
knowing  that  inveterate  prejudices  in  religious  matters  are 
not  easily  overcome ;  for  which  reason  he  is  said  to  become 
all  things  to  all  men. 

Every  thing  being  ready  for  their  journey,  Paul  and  his 
companions  departed  from  Lystra,  passing  through  Phrygia, 
and  the  country  of  Galatia,  where  the  apostle  was  entertained 
with  the  greatest  kindness  and  veneration,  the  people  looking 
upon  him  as  an  angel  sent  immediately  from  heaven ;  and 
being  by  revelation  forbidden  to  go  into  Asia,  he  was  com- 
manded by  a  second  vision  to  repair  to  Macedonia  to  preach 
the  gospel.  Accordingly,  our  apostle  prepared  to  pass  from 
Asia  into  Europe.  Here  Luke  joined  them,  and  became  ever 
after  the  inseparable  companion  of  Paul,  who,  being  desirous 
of  finding  the  speediest  passage  into  Macedonia,  took  ship 
with  his  companions — Silas,  Luke,  and  Timothy — and  came 
to  Samothracia,  an  island  in  the  Egean  sea,  not  far  from 
Thrace ;  and  the  next  day  he  went  to  Neapolis,  a  port  of 
Macedonia.  Leaving  this  place,  he  repaired  to  Philippi,  the 
metropolis  of  that  part  of  Macedonia,  and  a  Koman  colony, 
where  they  staid  some  days. 

In  this  city,  Paul,  according  to  his  constant  practice, 
preached  in  a  proseucha,  or  oratory  of  the  Jews,  which  stood 
by  the  river's  side,  at  some  distance  from  the  city,  and  was 


PAUL.  ^^  849 

much  frequented  by  the  devout  women  of  their  religion,  who 
met  there  to  pray  and  hear  the  law. 

To  these  Paul  preached  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gospel; 
and  by  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  converted  many, 
especially  a  certain  woman,  named  Lydia,  a  Jewish  proselyte, 
a  seller  of  purple,  but  a  native  of  Thyatira. 

This  woman,  being  baptized,  with  her  whole  family,  was 
so  importunate  with  Paul  and  his  companions  to  abide  at 
her  house,  that  they  were  constrained  to  accept  of  her  invita- 
tion. During  the  time  of  the  apostles'  residing  in  this  city, 
they  continued  their  daily  course  of  worshiping  at  the  same 
oratory  ;  and  after  several  days,  as  they  were  repairing  to  the 
same  place  of  devotion,  there  met  them  a  damsel  who  was 
possessed  of  a  spirit  of  divination,  by  whom  her  masters 
acquired  very  much  advantage. 

This  woman  followed  Paul  and  his  companions,  crying  out, 
"  These  men  are  the  servants  of  the  Most  High  God,  which 
show  unto  us  the  way  of  salvation." 

Paul  at  first  took  no  notice  of  her,  not  being  willing  to 
multiply  miracles  without  necessity.  But  when  he  saw  her 
following  them  several  days  together,  he  began  to  be  troubled, 
and,  in  imitation  of  his  great  Master,  who  would  not  suffer 
the  devil  to  acknowledge  him,  lest  his  false  and  lying  tongue 
should  prejudice  the  truth  in  the  minds  of  men,  commanded 
the  spirit,  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  to  come  out  of  her.  The 
evil  spirit  with  reluctance  obeyed,  and  left  the  damsel  that 
very  instant.  This  miraculous  cure  proving  a  great  loss  to 
her  masters,  who  acquired  large  gains  from  her  soothsaying, 
they  were  filled  with  envy  and  malice  against  the  apostles, 
and  by  their  instigation  the  multitude  arose,  and,  seizing 
upon  Paul  and  his  companion,  hurried  them  before  the  mag- 
istrates and  governors  of  the  colony,  accusing  them  of  intro 
ducing  many  innovations  which  were  prejudicial  to  the  state, 
and  unlawful  for  them  to  comply  with,  as  being  Eomans. 

The  magistrates,  being  concerned  for  the  tranquillity  of 
the  state,  and  jealous  of  all  disturbances,  were  very  forward 
to  punish  the  offenders,  against  whom  great  numbers  of  the 
multitude  testified,  and  therefore  commanded  the  officers  to 


350  PAUL. 

strip  them,  and  scourge  them  severely  as  seditious  persons. 
This  was  accordingly  executed;  after  which,  the  apostles 
were  committed  to  close  custody,  the  jailer  receiving  more 
than  ordinary  charge  to  keep  them  safely ;  and  he  accord- 
ingly thrust  them  into  the  inner  prison,  and  made  their  feet 
fast  in  the  stocks. 

But  the  most  obscure  dungeon,  or  the  pitchy  mantle  of  the 
night,  can  not  intercept  the  beams  of  divine  joy  and  comfort 
from  the  souls  of  pious  men. 

Their  minds  were  all  serenity ;  and  at  midnight  they 
prayed  and  sung  praises  so  loud,  that  they  were  heard  in 
every  part  of  the  prison. 

Nor  were  their  prayers  offered  to  the  throne  of  grace  in 
vain;  an  earthquake  shook  the  foundations  of  the  prison, 
opened  the  doors,  loosed  the  chains,  and  set  the  prisoners  at 
liberty. 

This  convulsion  of  nature  roused  the  jailer  from  sleep; 
who,  concluding  from  what  he  saw  that  all  his  prisoners  were 
escaped,  was  going  to  put  a  period  to  his  life ;  but  Paul  ob- 
serving him,  hastily  cried  out,  "  Do  thyself  no  harm,  for  we 
are  all  here." 

The  keeper  was  now  as  greatly  surprised  at  the  goodness 
of  the  apostles,  as  he  was  before  terrified  at  the  thought  of 
their  escape;  and,  calling  for  a  light,  he  came  immediately 
into  the  presence  of  the  apostles,  fell  down  at  their  feet,  took 
them  from  the  dungeon,  brought  them  to  his  own  house, 
washed  their  stripes,  and  begged  them  to  instruct  him  in  the 
knowledge  of  that  God  who  was  so  mighty  to  save. 

Paul  readily  granted  his  request,  and  replied  that,  if  he 
believed  in  Jesus  Christ,  he  might  be  saved,  with  his  whole 
house.  Accordingly,  the  jailer,  with  all  his  family,  were, 
after  competent  instruction,  baptized,  and  received  as  mem- 
bers of  the  church  of  Christ. 

As  soon  as  it  was  day,  the  magistrates,  either  hearing  what 
had  happened,  or  reflecting  on  what  they  had  done  as  too 
harsh  and  unjustifiable,  sent  their  serjeant  to  the  jailer,  with 
orders  to  discharge  the  apostles. 

The  jailer  joyfully  delivered  his  message,  and  bade  them 


PAUL.  851 

depart  in  peace ;"  but  Paul,  that  he  might  make  the  magis- 
trates sensible  what  injury  they  had  done  to  them,  and  how 
unjustly  they  had  punished  them,  without  examination  or 
trial,  sent  them  word,  that  as  they  thought  proper  to  scourge 
and  imprison  Eomans,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  empire, 
he  expected  they  should  come  themselves,  and  make  them 
some  satisfaction. 

Eeluctant  to  do  this,  the  magistrates  very  submissively 
entreated  the  apostles  to  depart  without  any  further  disturb- 
ance. This  small  recompense  for  the  cruel  usage  they  had 
received,  was  accepted  by  the  meek  followers  of  the  blessed 
Jesus ;  they  left  the  prison,  and  retired  to  the  house  of  Lydia, 
where  they  comforted  their  brethren-with  an  account  of  their 
deliverance,  and  departed,  having  laid  the  foundation  of  a 
very  eminent  church,  as  it  appears  from  Paul's  Epistle  to  the 
Philippians. 

Leaving  Philippi,  Paul  and  his  companions  continued  their 
journey  toward  the  west,  till  they  came  to  Thessalonica,  the 
metropolis  of  Macedonia,  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
from  Philippi.  On  their  arrival  at  this  place,  Paul,  according 
to  his  custom,  went  into  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  and 
preached  unto  his  countrymen, — the  ungrateful  usage  he  had 
met  with  in  other  places  not  discouraging  him  from  perse- 
vering in  so  glorious  a  work.  His  doctrine,  however,  was 
strenuously  opposed  by  the  Jews,  who  would  not  allow  Jesus 
to  be  the  Messiah,  because  of  his  ignominous  death. 

During  the  stay  of  the  apostles  at  Thessalonica,  they 
lodged  in  the  house  of  a  certain  christian  named  Jason,  who 
entertained  them  very  courteously.  But  the  Jews  would 
not  suffer  the  apostles  to  continue  at  rest.  They  beset  the 
house  of  Jason,  intending  to  take  Paul,  and  deliver  him  up 
to  an  incensed  multitude,  but  in  this  they  were  disappointed, 
the  christians  having  concealed  him  in  some  other  part  of 
the  city. 

As  soon  as  the  tumult  was  over,  the  Thessalonians  who 
had  been  converted  by  them  sent  Paul  and  Silas  by  night  to 
Berea,  a  city  about  fifty  miles  south  of  Thessalonica,  but  out 
of  the  power  of  their  enemies.     Here  also  Paul's  great  love 


352  PAUL. 

for  liis  countrymen,  tlie  Jews,  and  his  earnest  desire  of  their 
salvation,  excited  him  to  preach  to  them  in  particular ;  ac- 
cordingly he  entered  into  their  synagogue,  and  explained 
the  gospel  unto  them,  proving,  out  of  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  truth  of  the  doctrines  he  advanced. 

His  preaching  was  attended  with  remarkable  success,  and 
as  it  reached  Thessalonica,  it  greatly  incensed  the  inveterate 
enemies  of  the  gospel  there,  who  accordingly  repaired  to 
Berea,  and  raised  tumults  against  the  apostles ;  so  that  Paul, 
in  order  to  avoid  their  fury,  was  forced  to  leave  the  town ; 
but  Silas  and  Timothy,  either  less  known  or  less  envied,  con- 
tinued still  there. 

Paul,  leaving  Berea  under  the  conduct  of  certain  guides, 
it  was  said  he  designed  to  retire  by  sea  out  of  Greece,  that 
his  restless  enemies  might  cease  their  persecution ;  but  the 
guides,  according  to  Paul's  order,  brought  him  to  Athens, 
and  left  him  there,  after  receiving  from  him  an  order  for 
Silas  and  Timothy  to  repair  to  him  as  soon  as  possible. 

While  Paul  continued  at  Athens,  expecting  the  arrival  of 
his  companions,  he  walked  up  and  down,  to  take  a  more 
accurate  survey  of  the  city,  which  he  found  miserably  over- 
run with  superstition  and  idolatry. 

The  spirit  of  the  apostle  was  grieved,  and  he  exerted  all 
his  strength  for  their  conversion,  improving  every  opportu- 
nity of  speaking  to  them  of  Christ  and  his  salvation. 

They  did  not  persecute  him,  as  others  had  done,  but  his 
preaching  was  considered  by  the  Epicurean  and  Stoic  philos- 
ophers as  a  fabulous  legend,  and  by  the  more  sober  part  as  a 
discovery  of  some  new  gods,  which  they  had  not  yet  placed 
in  their  temples.  And  though  they  were  not  unwilling  to 
receive  any  new  deities,  yet,  as  the  Areopagus,  the  supreme 
court  of  the  city,  was  to  judge  of  all  gods  to  whom  public 
worship  might  be  allowed,  they  brought  him  before  those 
judges,  to  give  an  account  of  his  doctrine. 

Paul,  being  placed  before  the  judges  of  this  high  assembly, 
readily  gave  them  an  account  of  his  doctrine,  in  a  grave  and 
elegant  speech ;  wherein  he  exalted  Christ  as  God  over  all, 
and  his  death  the  means  of  salvation  to  a  guilty  world. 


■*v 


■rE^yt' 


.%  4    «■ 


■rf        ••       -4         •■'    *       * 


PAU  L. 


853 


>.-  '■' 


W 


A 


354  PAUL. 

But  lest  the  ungrateful,  yea,  cruel  behavior  of  unbelievers 
should  discourage  this  able  minister  from  prosecuting  the 
glorious  work  of  the  conversion  of  sinners,  Jesus  appeared 
to  him  in  a  vision,  and  told  him  that,  notwithstanding  the 
bad  success  he  had  hitherto  met  with,  there  was  a  large  har- 
vest to  be  gathered  in  that  place;  that  he  should  not  be 
afraid  of  his  enemies,  but  preach  the  gospel  boldly  and 
securely,  for  that  he  himself  would  protect  and  preserve  him. 

About  this  time  he  seems  to  have  written  his  first  Epistle 
to  the  Thessalonians,  the  principal  design  of  which  is  to  con- 
firm them  in  the  belief  of  the  christian  religion,  and  to  excite 
them  to  persevere  in  it,  notwithstanding  all  the  malice  of 
their  enemies,  and  the  persecutions  they  must  expect  to 
suffer,  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  duties  of  a  religious  life. 

During  his  stay  at  Corinth,  he  wrote  his  second  epistle  to 
the  same  people,  wherein  he  again  endeavored  to  confirm 
them  in  the  most  holy  faith. 

On  leaving  the  church  at  Corinth,  he  took  ship  at  Cen- 
chrea,  the  port  of  Corinth,  for  Syria,  taking  with  him  Aquila 
and  Priscilla,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Ephesus,  he  preached  a 
while  in  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews,  promising  to  return  to 
them,  after  keeping  the  passover  at  Jerusalem. 

Accordingly,  he  again  took  ship,  and  landed  at  Caesarea, 
and  from  thence  traveled  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  kept  the 
feast,  visited  the  church,  and  then  repaired  to  Antioch. 

Here  Paul  staid  some  time,  and  then  traversed  the  coun- 
tries of  Galatia  and  Phrygia,  confirming  the  newly  converted 
christians,  till  he  came  to  Ephesus. 

At  this  latter  place  he  fixed  his  abode  for  three  years, 
having  with  him  Gains  of  Derbe,  Aristarchus,  a  native  of 
Thessalonica,  Timotheus,  and  Erastus  of  Corinth,  and  Titus. 
The  first  thing  he  did  after  his  arrival  was  to  examine  certain 
disciples,  "  whether  they  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since 
thejf^  believed," 

Finding  them  trusting  in  the  outward  form  of  John's  bap- 
tism, he  instructed  them,  and  they  were  baptized  according 
to  the  form  prescribed  by  Christ  himself, — that  is,  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and 


PAUL. 


355 


after  the  apostle  had  prayed,  and  laid  his  •  hands  over  them, 
they  received  the  gifts  of  tongues,  and  other  miraculous 
powers. 

After  this  he  entered  into  the  Jewish  synagogue,  where, 
for  the  first  three  months,  he  contended  and  disputed  with 
the  Jews,  endeavoring  with  great  earnestness  and  resolution 
to  convince  them  of  the  truth  of  the  christian  religion. 

Bat  when,  instead  of  success,  he  met  with  nothing  but 
obstinacy  and  infidelity,  he  left  the  place  altogether,  and 
taught  those  who  resorted  to  him  in  the  school  of  one  Tyran- 
nus,  a  place  where  scholars  used  to  be  instructed. 

In  this  manner  he  continued  to  preach  the  gospel  two 
whole  years,  by  which  means  the  Jews  and  proselytes  had 
an  opportunity  of  hearing  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation. 

And  because  miracles  are  the  clearest  evidence  of  a  divine 
commission,  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  testify  to  the  doc- 
trine which  Paul  delivered,  by  amazing  and  miraculous  ope- 
rations, many  of  which  were  of  a  peculiar  and  extraordinary 
nature ;  for  he  not  only  healed  those  that  came  to  him,  but 
if  napkins  and  handkerchiefs  were  only  touched  by  him,  and 
applied  to  the  sick,  their  diseases  immediately  vanished,  and 
.  the  evil  spirits  departed  out  of  those  that  were  possessed 
with  them. 

During  Paul's  stay  at  Ephesus,  an  accident  happened 
which  was  attended  with  great  trouble  and  danger. 

In  this  city  was  the  celebrated  temple  of  Diana,  a  structure 
so  magnificent  for  beauty,  riches,  and  magnitude,  that  it  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  seven  wonders  of  the  world.  But  what 
increased  its  reputation  and  fame,  was  an  image  of  Diana 
kept  there,  which  the  idolatrous  priests  persuaded  the  people 
was  made  by  Jupiter  himself,  and  dropped  down  from  heaven ; 
for  which  reason  it  was  held  in  great  veneration,  not  only  at 
Ephesus,  but  throughout  all  Asia, 

The  people  plainly  perceiving  that  Paul's  preaching  tended 
to  the  subversion  of  idolatry,  called  together  a  council,  to  see 
what  should  be  done  for  the  safety  of  their  institutions.  It 
was  agreed  to  silence  the  preacher,  and  accordingly  they 
determined  to  expose  him  to  the  savage  beasts  of  the  theatre, 


856  PAUL. 

but  the  Lord  interposed  by  a  miraculous  deliverance  for  his 
servant,  and  thus  brouglit  to  naught  the  counsels  of  the 
Avicked. 

About  this  time  Paul  was  informed  of  some  disturbances 
in  the  church  at  Corinth,  fomented  by  a  company  of  false 
teachers  crept  in  among  them,  who  endeavored  to  draw  them 
into  parties  and  factions,  by  persuading  one  company  to  be 
for  Peter,  another  for  Paul,  and  a  third  for  Apollos ;  as  if 
the  principal  part  of 'religion  consisted  in  being  of  this  or 
that  denomination,  or  in  a  warm,  active  zeal,  to  depreciate 
and  oppose  whoever  is  not  of  our  own  narrow  sect. 

To  cure  these  dissensions,  Paul  wrote  his  first  epistle  to  the 
Corinthians ;  wherein  he  smartly  reproves  them  for  their 
schisms  and  parties,  conjures  them  to  peace  and  unity,  cor- 
rects those  gross  corruptions  that  had  been  introduced  among 
them,  and  particularly  resolves  those  many  cases  and  contro- 
versies wherein  they  had  requested  his  advice  and  counsel. 

Soon  after  the  tumult  at  Ephesus,  he  called  the  christians 
together,  and  took  his  leave  of  them  with  the  most  tender 
expressions  of  love  and  affection.  He  had  now  spent  almost 
three  years  at  Ephesus,  and  founded  there  a  very  considera- 
ble church,  of  which  he  had  ordained  Timothy  the  first 
bishop. 

He  first  traveled  about  two  hundred  miles  northward  to 
Troas,  before  he  first  took  ship,  expecting  to  meet  Titus 
there ;  but  missing  him,  he  proceeded  on  his  voyage  to  Mace- 
donia. On  his  arrival  there,  he  preached  the  gospel  in  sev- 
eral places,  even  as  far  as  Allyricum,  now  called  Sclavonia. 
During  this  journey,  he  met  with  many  troubles  and  dangers, 
"without  were  fightings,  and  within  fears;"  but  God,  who 
comforteth  those  who  are  cast  down,  revived  his  spirits  by 
the  arrival  of  Titus,  who  gave  him  a  pleasing  account  of  the 
good  effects  his  epistle  had  produced  at  Corinth. 

During  the  stay  of  Titus  in  Macedonia,  Paul  wrote  his 
second  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  and  sent  it  to  them  by 
Titus  and  Luke. 

About  this  time  also  he  wrote  his  first  epistle  to  Timothy, 
whom  he  had  left  at  Ephesus,  wherein  he  gives  him  large 


PAUL.  357 

directions  how  to  conduct  himself  in  tlie  discharge  of  that 
great  office  and  authority  in  the  church  committed  to  his  care. 

During  his  stay  in  Greece,  he  went  to  Corinth,  where  he 
wrote  his  famous  epistle  to  tlie  Eomans,  which  he  sent  by 
Phebe,  a  deaconess  of  the  church  of  Cenchrea,  near  Corinth. 

Being  now  determined  to  return  into  Syria,  in  order  to 
convey  contributions  to  the  brethren  at  Jerusalem,  he  set 
out  on  his  journey ;  but,  being  informed  that  the  Jews  had 
formed  a  design  of  killing  and  robbing  him  by  the  way,  he 
returned  back  into  Macedonia,  and  came  to  Philippi,  from 
whence  he  went  to  Troas,  where  he  staid  seven  days.  Here 
he  preached  to  them  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  continued  his 
discourse  till  midnight,  being  himself  to  depart  in  the 
morning. 

The  length  of  his  discourse,  and  time  of  the  night,  caused 
some  of  the  audience  to  be  overtaken  with  sleep,  and  among 
them  a  young  man,  named  Eutychus,  who  fell  from  the  third 
story,  and  was  taken  up  dead ;  but  the  apostle,  by  his  pray- 
ers to  the  throne  of  grace,  presently  restored  him  to  life  and 
health. 

How  indefatigable  was  the  industry  of  this  great  apostle ! 
liow  closely  did  he  tread  in  the  steps  of  his  great  Master,  who 
went  about  doing  good.  He  preached  and  wrought  miracles 
wherever  he  came ! 

As  a  master-builder,  he  either  laid  a  foundation,  or  raised 
the  superstructure!  He  was  " instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season,"  and  spared  no  pains  to  assist  the  souls  of  men. 

The  night  being  thus  spent  in  holy  exercises,  Paul  took 
his  leave  of  the  brethren  in  the  morning,  traveling  on  foot 
to  Assos,  a  seaport  town,  whither  he  had  before  sent  his  com- 
panions by  sea. 

Having  visited  several  places,  they  came  to  Miletus,  not 
putting  in  at  Ephesus,  because  the  apostle  was  resolved,  if 
possible,  to  be  at  Jerusalem  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 

On  his  arrival,  however,  he  sent  to  Ephesus,  to  summon 
the  elders  of  the  church ;  and  on  their  coming,  reminded 
them  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had  conversed  among  them  • 
how  faithfully  and  affectionately  he  had  discharged  the  office 


858  PAUL. 

of  liis  ministry,  and  how  incessantly  he  liad  labored  for  tlie 
good  of  the  souls  of  men ;  adding  that  now  he  was  going  up 
to  Jerusalem,  where  he  was  ignorant  of  what  might  befall 
him,  except  what  had  been  foretold  him  by  those  who  were 
endued  with  the  prophetical  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost, — 
namely,  that  afflictions  and  imprisonments  would  attend  him ; 
but  this  gave  him  no  concern,  being  willing  to  lay  down  his 
life  whenever  the  gospel  required,  and  fully  determined  to 
serve  faithfully  his  great  Lord  and  Master. 

"I  well  know,"  continued  he,  "that  you  will  see  my  face 
no  more;  but  for  my  encouragement  and  satisfaction,  ye 
yourselves  can  bear  me  witness  that  I  have  not,  by  concealing 
any  part  of  the  christian  doctrine,  betrayed  your  souls." 

Paul,  having  finished  his  discourse,  kneeled  down,  and 
joined  with  them  in  prayer ;  when  they  all  melted  into  tears, 
and,  with  the  greatest  expressions  of  sorrow,  attended  him 
to  the  ship,  grieving  in  the  most  passionate  manner,  for  what 
he  had  told  them,  that  "they  should  see  his  face  no  more." 

From  Miletus  they  went  to  Coos,  from  whence  they  sailed 
the  next  day  to  Rhodes,  two  islands  in  the  Egean  sea.  Leav- 
ing this  place,  they  came  to  Patara,  the  metropolis  of  Lycia, 
where  they  went  on  board  another  vessel,  bound  for  Tyre  in 
Phenicia.  On  his  arrival,  Paul  visited  the  brethren  there, 
and  continued  with  them  a  week,  and  was  advised  by  some 
of  them,  who  had  the  gift  of  prophecy,  not  to  go  up  to  Jeru- 
salem. But  the  apostle  would  by  no  means  abandon  his 
design,  or  refuse  to  suffer  any  thing,  provided  he  might 
spread  the  gospel  of  his  Saviour.  Finding  all  persuasions 
were  in  vain,  they  all  accompanied  him  to  the  shore,  where 
he  kneeled  down  and  prayed  with  them ;  and  after  embracing 
them  with  the  utmost  afi'ection,  he  went  on  board,  and  came 
to  Ptolemais,  and  the  next  day  to  Caesarea. 

During  their  stay  in  this  place,  Agabus,  a  christian  prophet, 
came  thither  from  Judea,  who,  taking  Paul's  girdle,  bound 
his  own  hands  and  feet  with  it ;  signifying  by  this  external 
symbol,  that  the  Jews  would  bind  Paul  in  that  manner,  and 
ileliver  him  over  to  the  Gentiles. 

Whereupon,  both  his  own  companions,  and  the  christians 


PAUL.  359 

of  Caesarea,  earnestly  besought  liim  that  he  would  not  go  up 
to  Jerusalem.  But  the  apostle  asked  them  if  they  intended 
by  these  passionate  dissuasives  to  add  more  affliction  to  his 
sorrow.  "  For  I  am  ready,"  continued  he,  "  not  only  to  be 
bound,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem,  for  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus." 

When  the  disciples  found  that  his  resolution  was  not  to  be 
shaken,  they  importuned  him  no  further,  leaving  the  event 
to  be  determined  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  Most  High. 
And  all  things  being  ready,  Paul  and  his  companions  set 
forward  on  their  journey,  and  were  kindly  and  joyfully 
received  by  the  christians,  on  their  arrival  at  Jerusalem. 

The  day  after  their  arrival,  they  went  to  the  house  of 
James  the  apostle,  where  the  rest  of  the  bishops  and  govern- 
ors of  the  church  were  met  together.  After  mutual  saluta- 
tions, the  apostle  gave  them  a  particular  account  of  the 
success  with  which  God  had  blessed  his  endeavors  in  propa- 
gating Christianity  among  the  Gentiles ;  for  which  they  all 
joined  in  thanksgiving  to  God.  Soon  after  he  repaired  to 
the  temple,  and  rehearsed  the  dealings  of  God  with  him  from 
the  happy  hour  of  his  conversion,  up  to  the  time  when  he 
stood  before  them ;  and  as  he  alluded  to  his  Divine  com- 
mission to  preach  the  truth  to  the  Gentiles,  the  Jews  became 
indignant,  and  cried  with  one  voice,  "Away  with  such  a 
fellow  from  the  earth." 

But  the  captain  of  the  guard  commanded  him  to  be 
brought  within  the  .castle,  and  that  he  should  be  examined 
and  scourged,  till  he  confessed  the  reason  of  the  uncommon 
rage  shown  against  him  by  the  people.  Accordingly,  the 
lictor  bound  him,  and  v/as  going  to  put  the  orders  he  had  re- 
ceived into  execution,  when  Paul  asked  the  centurion  that 
stood  by  whether  it  was  lawful  to  scourge  a  citizen  of  Eome, 
before  any  sentence  had  been  passed  upon  him. 

The  centurion,  instead  of  answering  him,  repaired  immedi- 
ately to  the  governor,  and  desired  him  take  care  how  he 
proceeded  against  the  prisoner,  because  he  was  a  Eoman. 

On  this  information,  the  governor  came  into  the  prison, 
and  asked  Paul  whether  he  was  really  a  free  citizen  of  Rome, 


360  PAUL. 

and  being  told  he  was,  he  answered  that  he  himself  procured 
that  great  privilege  bj  a  large  sum  of  money ;  but  Paul 
answered,  "I  was  free  born." 

On  receiving  this  account,  the  governor  commanded  the 
centurion  not  to  scourge  him,  being  terrified  at  what  he  had 
already  done — namely,  his  chaining  a  free  denizen  of  Rome. 

The  next  day  he  ordered  his  chains  to  be  taken  off;  and 
that  he  might  thoroughly  satisfy  himself  of  the  cause  of  so 
unusual  a  tumult  on  the  day  preceding,  summoned  the 
Sanhedrim  to  meet,  and  brought  down  Paul  before  them. 

The  apostle  being  thus  placed  before  the  great  council  of 
the  Jews,  freely  spoke  his  sentiments,  thereby  throwing  the 
whole  court  into  confusion,  by  exciting  the  regard  of  the 
Pharisees,  who  favored  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and 
incurring  the  resentment  of  the  Sadducees,  who  strenuously 
opposed  it.  The  dissensions  of  these  sects  increased  to  that 
degree,  that  the  captain  feared  Paul  would  have  been  pulled 
in  pieces ;  and  therefore  took  him  from  the  bar,  and  carried 
him  back  to  the  castle. 

But  during  the  silence  of  the  night  he  was  comforted  by 
extraordinary  communications  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  encour- 
aging him  to  constancy  and  resolution,  and  assuring  him  that 
he  should,  notwithstanding  all  the  malice  and  wicked  de- 
signs of  his  enemies,  live  to  bear  his  testimony,  even  in 
Eome  itself 

The  next  morning  the  Jews,  whose  envy  and  malice  were 
increased  by  these  dilatory  proceedings,  determined  to  use  a 
quicker  method  of  putting  a  period  to  his  life.  In  order  to 
this,  above  forty  of  the  most  turbulent  entered  into  a  shock- 
ing confederacy  to  kill  him;  ratifj'ing  it  by  oaths,  and  the 
most  bitter  execrations,  that  they  would  neither  eat  or  drink 
until  they  had  put  their  inhuman  design  into  execution. 

This  design,  though  probably  concluded  under  the  mantle 
of  the  night,  was  discovered  to  Paul,  by  his  sister's  son,  and 
at  the  request  of  the  apostle,  told  to  the  governor  himself, 
who  immediately  commanded  two  parties  of  horse  and  foot 
lo  be  ready  by  nine  o'clock  that  night,  in  order  to  conduct 
Paul  to  Felix,  the  Eoman  governor  of  that  province;    to 


♦ 


'     :'!■' 


Ji  -■'       *  *.. 


< 


[f 


PAUL. 


361 


A^'^^^^k 


362  PAUL. 

Soon  after  this,  Felix's  wife,  Drusilla,  a  Jewess,  and  daugh- 
ter of  the  elder  Herod,  came  down  to  him  to  Csesarea,  in 
whose  presence  the  governor  sent  for  Paul,  and  gave  him 
leave  to  explain  the  doctrines  of  Christianity.  In  this  dis- 
course the  apostle  took  occasion  to  insist  upon  the  most 
important  points,  both  of  faith  and  practice,  particularly  the 
influence  which  a  future  judgment  should  have  upon  the 
whole  tenor  of  the  life  and  conduct.  This  discourse  was 
wisely  adapted  to  the  state  and  temper  of  Felix;  though 
when  Paul  described  the  terrors  of  the  last  judgment,  he 
trembled  on  his  throne,  and  was  so  greatly  affected  that  he 
caused  the  apostle  to  break  o&  abruptly,  telling  him  that  he 
would  hear  the  remainder  at  a  more  convenient  season. 

He  had  much  intercourse  with  Paul  afterward,  but  not 
finding  his  selfish  ambition  gratified,  he  kept  him  prisoner 
two  years ;  and  left  him  there  when  he  retired  from  office,  in 
order  to  gratify  the  malice  of  the  Jews,  and  engage  them  to 
speak  the  better  of  his  government. 

At  length  Paul  appealed  unto  Caesar ;  and  soon  after,  king 
Agrippa,  who  succeeded  Herod  in  the  tetrarchate  of  Galilee, 
and  his  sister  .Bernice,  came  to  Caesarea  to  visit  the  governor. 

Festus,  who  had  succeeded  Felix,  embraced  this  opportii 
nity  of  mentioning  the  case  of  the  apostle  to  king  Agrippa, 
together  with  the  remarkable  tumult  the  affair  had  occasioned 
among  the  Jews,  and  his  appeal  unto  Caesar.  This  excited 
the  curiosity  of  the  king,  who  was  desirous  of  hearing  what 
Paul  had  to  say  for  himself.  Accordingly  he  was  brought 
before  them,  and.  made  a  speech,  addressed  particularly  to 
Agrippa,  wherein  he  again  related  the  circumstances  of  his 
conversion,  and  his  commission  to  preach  the  gospel,  and  his 
determination  to  continue  in  the  work. 

It  was  finally  determined,  however,  that  Paul  should  be 
sent  to  Eome,  and,  with  several  other  prisoners  of  conse- 
quence, he  was  committed  to  the  care  of  Julius,  commander 
of  a  company  belonging  to  the  legion  of  Augustus ;  and  was 
accompanied  in  his  voyage  by  Luke,  Aristarchus,  Trophimus, 
and  some  others  not  mentioned  by  the  sacred  historian. 

In  the  month  of  September,  they  embarked  on  board  a 


PAUL.  863 

ship  at  Adramjttium,  and  sailed  to  Sidon,  wliere  the  centu- 
rion courteously  gave  the  apostle  leave  to  go  on  shore  to 
visit  his  friends  and  refresh  himself.  After  a  short  stay, 
they  sailed  for  Cyprus,  and  arrived  opposite  the  Fair  Havens, 
a  place  near  Myra,  a  city  of  Lycia.  Here,  the  season  being 
far  advanced,  and  Paul,  foreseeing  that  it  would  be  a  danger- 
ous voyage,  persuaded  them  to  put  in  and  winter  there. 

The  Roman  centurion,  however,  thought  the  opinion  of 
the  master  of  the  ship  preferable,  and  they  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed, but  were  intercepted  in  their  course  by  a  violent  gale, 
which  drove  them  about  fourteen  days,  and  finally  forced 
them  to  anchor,  to  avoid  being  thrown  upon  the  rocks.  The 
country  near  which  they  were,  as  Paul  had  foretold,  was  an 
island  called  Melita,  now  Malta,  situated  in  the  Lybian  sea, 
between  Syracuse  and  Africa. 

Here  they  landed,  and  met  with  great  civility  from  a  bar- 
barous people,  who  treated  them  with  humanity,  entertaining 
them  with  all  the  necessary  accommodations ;  but  while  Paul 
was  laying  a  few  sticks  on  the  fire,  a  viper,  enlivened  by  the 
heat,  came  from  among  the  wood,  and  fastened  on  his  hand. 

On  seeing  this,  the  inhabitants  of  the  island  concluded 
that  he  was  certainly  some  notorious  murderer,  whom  the 
Divine  vengeance,  though  it  suffered  him  to  escape  the  sea, 
had  reserved  for  a  more  public  and  solemn  execution. 

But  when  they  saw  him  shake  off  the  venomous  creature 
into  the  fire,  and  no  manner  of  harm  ensue,  they  changed 
their  sentiments,  and  cried  out  that  he  was  a  god.  After 
three  months'  stay  in  this  island,  they  again  pursued  their 
course  toward  Rome.  The  christians  of  this  city,  hearing  of 
the  apostle's  coming,  went  to  meet  him  as  far  as  Three  Tav- 
erns, about  thirty  miles  out,  and  others  as  far  as  the  Appii- 
forum,  fifty-one  miles  distant  from  the  capital. 

They  kindly  embraced  each  other,  and  the  liberty  he  saw 
the  christians  enjoy  at  Rome,  greatly  enlivened  the  spirits  of 
the  apostle.  Having  refreshed  himself  after  the  fatigue  of 
his  voyage,  the  apostle  sent  for  the  heads  of  the  Jewish  con- 
sistory there,  and  related  the  cause  of  his  coming  to  them  in 
"the  following  manner :  "  Though  I  have  been  guilty  of  no 


364  PAUL. 

violation  of  the  laws  of  our  religion,  yet  I  was  delivered  up 
by  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem,  to  the  Eoman  governors,  who 
more  than  once  would  have  acquitted  me,  as  innocent  of  any 
capital  offense ;  but  by  the  perverseness  of  my  persecutors, 
I  was  obliged  to  appeal  unto  Caesar ;  not  that  I  had  any  thing 
to  accuse  my  nation  of:  I  had  recourse  to  this  method  merely 
to  clear  mine  own  innocence." 

Having  thus  removed  a  popular  prejudice,  he  added,  that 
the  true  cause  of  his  sufferings  was  what  their  own  religion 
had  taught  him,  the  belief  and  expectation  of  a  future  resur- 
rection. 

But  his  discourse  had  different  effects  on  different  hearers ; 
some  being  convinced,  and  others  persisting  in  their  infidelity. 
For  two  whole  3^ears  Paul  dwelt  at  Eome,  in  a  house  he  had 
hired  for  his  own  use;  wherein  he  assiduously  employed 
himself  in  preaching  and  writing  for  the  good  of  the  church. 

Among  others  of  the  apostle's  converts  at  Eome,  was  one 
Onesimus,  who  had  formerly  been  a  servant  to  Philemon,  a 
person  of  distinction  at  Colosse,  but  had  run  away  from  his 
master,  and  fraudulently  taken  with  him  some  things  of  value. 
Having  rambled  as  far  as  Eome,  he  was  converted  by  Paul, 
and  by  him  returned  to  his  master,  with  a  short  recommenda- 
tory letter,  earnestly  desiring  him  to  pardon  him ;  and,  not- 
withstanding his  former  faults,  to  treat  him  kindly  and  use 
him  as  a  brother ;  promising,  withal,  that  if  he  had  wronged 
or  owed  him  any  thing,  he  himself  would  repay  it.  This 
epistle  may  be  considered  as  a  master-piece  of  eloquence,  in 
the  persuasive  way ;  for  in  it  the  apostle  had  recourse  to  all 
the  considerations  which  friendship,  religion,  piety  and  ten- 
derness can  inspire,  to  reconcile  an  incensed  master  to  his 
servant. 

By  what  means  Paul  was  discharged  from  the  accusation 
the  Jews  brought  against  him  we  have  no  account  in  history ; 
but  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that  not  having  sufl&cient  proof 
of  what  they  alledged,  or  being  informed  that  the  crimes  they 
accused  him  of  were  no  violations  of  the  Eoman  law,  they 
durst  not  implead  him  before  the  emperor,  and  so  permitted 
him  to  be  discharged,  of  course.     But,  by  whatever  means 


PAUL.  365 

he  procured  his  liberty,  it  is  thought  he  wrote  his  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  before  he  left  Itah^,  from  whence  he  dates  his 
Salutations. 

The  principal  design  of  it  is  to  magnify  Christ,  and  the 
religion  of  the  gospel,  above  Moses  and  the  Jewish  economy, 
in  order  to  establish  and  confirm  the  converted  Jews  in  the 
firm  belief  and  profession  of  Christianity,  notwithstanding 
the  trouble  and  persecutions  that  would  certainly  attend 
them. 

Having  thus  discharged  his  ministry,  both  by  preaching 
and  writing,  in  Italy,  Paul,  accompanied  by  Timothy,  prose- 
cuted his  long-intended  joarney  into  Spain,  and,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  several  Avriters,  crossed  the  sea,  and  preached 
the  gospel  in  Britain. 

What  success  he  had  in  these  western  parts  is  not  known ; 
he,  however,  continued  there  eight  or  nine  months,  and  then 
returned  again  into  the  East;  visited  Sicil}^,  Greece  and 
Crete,  and  then  repaired  to  Rome. 

Here  he  met  with  Peter,  and  was,  together  with  him, 
thrown  into  prison,  doubtless  in  the  general  persecution 
raised  against  the  christians,  under  the  pretense  that  they 
had  set  fire  to  the  city.  •  How  long  he  remained  in  prison  is 
uncertain ;  nor  do  we  know  whether  he  was  scourged  before 
his  execution.  He  was,  however,  allowed  the  privilege  of  a 
Roman  citizen,  and  therefore  beheaded. 

Being  come  to  the  place  of  execution,  which  was  the  Sal- 
vian  waters,  three  miles  from  Rome,  he  cheerfully,  after  a 
solemn  preparation,  gave  his  neck  to  the  fatal  stroke ;  and 
from  this  vale  of  misery  passed  to  the  blissful  regions  of  im- 
mortality, to  the  kingdom  of  his  beloved  Master, — the  great 
Redeemer  of  the  human  race. 

He  was  buried  in  Via  Ostiensis,  about  two  miles  from 
Rome ;  and,  about  the  year  817,  Constantine  the  Great,  at  the 
instance  of  Pope  Sylvester,  built  a  stately  church  over  his 
grave,  adorned  it  with  a  hundred  marble  columns,  and  beauti- 
fied it  with  the  most  exquisite  workmanship. 

Paul  seems  to  have  been  eminently  fitted  for  the  apostle- 
ship  of  the  Gentiles,  to  contend  with  and  confute  the  grave 


866  PAUL. 

and  the  wise,  the  acute  and  the  subtle,  the  sage  and  the  learned, 
of  the  heathen  world,  and  to  wound  them  with  arrows  from 
their  own  quiver. 

He  seldom,  indeed,  made  use  of  learning  and  philosophy ; 
it  being  more  agreeable  to  the  design  of  the  gospel  to  con- 
found the  wisdom  and  learning  of  the  world  bj  the  plain 
doctrine  of  the  cross. 

He  was  humbled  to  the  lowest  step  of  debasement  and  con- 
descension ;  none  ever  thinking  better  of  others,  or  .more 
meanly  of  himself.  And  though,  when  he  had  to  deal  with 
envious  and  malicious  adversaries,  who  endeavored,  by  vilify- 
ing his  person,  to  obstruct  his  ministry,  he  knew  hoAV  to 
magnify  his  office,  and  to  let  them  know  that  he  was  not  in- 
ferior to  the  chiefest  of  the  apostles ;  yet,  at  other  times,  he 
always  declared  to  the  world  that  he  considered  himself  "  less 
than  the  least  of  the  saints ; "  nay,  "  the  very  chief  of  sinners." 

His  repentance  and  sobriety  were  remarkable,  for  he  often 
abridged  himself  of  the  conveniency  of  lawful  and  necessary 
accommodations.  What  he  taught  to  others  he  practiced 
himself:  "his  conversation  •  was  in  heaven,  and  his  desires 
were  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ;  and  hence  it  is  very  proba- 
ble that  he  always  led  a  single  life,  though  some  of  the 
ancients  rank  him  among  the  married  apostles. 

His  kindness  and  charity  were  remarkable ;  but  his  charity 
to  the  souls  of  men  was  infinitely  greater ;  fearing  no  dangers, 
refusing  no  labors,  going  through  good  and  evil  report,  that 
he  might  gain  men  over  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  bring 
them  out  of  the  crooked  paths,  and  place  them  in  the  straight 
way,  that  leadeth  unto  life  eternal. 

Nor  was  his  charity  to  men  greater  than  his  zeal  to  God ; 
laboring  with  all  his  might  to  promote  the  honor  of  his 
Divine  Master. 

When  at  Athens,  he  saw  them  involved  in  the  grossest 
superstition  and  idolatry,  and  giving  the  honor  that  was  due 
to  God  to  statues  and  images.  This  fired  his  zeal,  and  he 
could  not  but  let  them  know  the  sentiments  of  his  mind,  and 
how  greatly  they  dishonored  God,  the  Maker  and  Preserver 
of  the  world. 


BARNABAS. 


867 


Nor,  in  tlie  course  of  a  most  extensive  ministry,  was  lie 
tried  with  the  dangers  and  difficulties  he  met  with,  or  the 
troubles  and  opposition  that  were  laised  against  him. 

He  did  not  want  solicitations,  both  from  Jews  and  Gentiles ; 
and  might,  doubtless,  in  some  measure,  have  made  his  own 
terms,  had  he  been  false  to  his  trust,  and  quitted  that  sway 
which  was  then  every  where  spoken  against.  But,  alas! 
these  things  weighed  little  with  our  apostle,  who  "counted 
not  his  hfe  dear  unto  him,  so  that  he  might  finish  his  course 
with  joy,  and  the  ministry  he  had  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus." 

And,  therefore,  when  he  thought  himself  under  the  sentence 
of  death,  could  triumphantly  say,  -'I  have  fought  a  good 
fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith."  In 
short,  he  was  a  man  in  whom  the  grace  of  God  was  displayed 
with  peculiar  lustre,  and  who  gave  the.most  convincing  proof 
that  the  influence  of  gospel  principles  exceed  all  moral  and 
legal  obligations. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

INSTRUCTION  OF  BARNABAS  UNDER  GAMALIEL;    DEVOTION  TO  THE  CHRIS 

TIAN  CAUSE ;    INHUMAN  DEATH.    REMARKABLE  PIETY  OF 

STEPHEN ;    STONED  TO  DEATH ;    PRAYS  FOR 

HIS  MURDERERS. 

AENABAS  was  at  first  called  Joses,  a  softer 
termination  generally  given  by  the  Greeks  to 
Joseph. 

His  fellow  disciples  added  the  name  of  Bar- 
nabas,  as   significant   of   some  extraordinary 
property  in  him. 

.Luke  interprets  it,  "the  son  of  consolation,"  from  his 
being  ever  ready  to  administer  to  the  afflicted,  both  by  word 
and  action.     He  was  a  descendant  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  of  a 


368 


BARNABAS. 


family  removed  out  of  Judea,  and  settled  in  tlie  isle  of  Cy- 
prus, where  they  had  purchased  an  estate,  as  the  Levitcs 
might  do  out  of  their  country.  His  parents,  finding  their 
son  of  a  promising  genius  and  disposition,  placed  him  in  one 
of  the  schools  at  Jerusalem,  under  the  tuition  of  Gamaliel, 
Paul's  master, — an  accident  which,  in  all  probability,  laid 
the  foundation  for  that  intimacy  which  afterward  subsisted 
between  these  two  eminent  servants  of  the  blessed  Jesus. 

The  first  mention  we  have  of  Barnabas,  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  is  the  record  of  that  great  and  worthy  service  he 
did  the  church  of  Christ,  by  succoring  it  with  the  sale  of  his 
patrimony  in  Cyprus,  the  whole  price  of  which  he  laid  at  the 
apostles'  feet,  to  be  put  into  the  common  stock,  and  disposed 
of  as  they  should  think  fit,  among  the  indigent  followers  of 
the  blessed  Jesus.  This  worthy  example  was  followed  by 
those  who  were  blessed  with  temporal  good ;  none  kept  their 
plenty  to  themselves,  but  turned  their  houses  and  lands  into 
money,  and  devoted  it  to  the  common  use  of  the  church, 

Barnabas  became  considerable  in  the  ministry  and  govern- 
ment of  the  church,  for  we  find  that  Paul,  coming  to  Jerusa- 
lem three  years  after  his  conversion,  and  not  readily  procur- 
ing admittance  into  the  church,  because  he  had  been  so 
grievous  a  persecutor  of  it,  and  might  still  be  suspected  of  a 
design  to  betray  it,  addressed  himself  to  Barnabas,  a  leading 
man  among  the  christians,  and  one  that  had  personal  knowl- 
edge of  him. 

About  four  or  five  years  after  this,  the  agreeable  news  was 
brought  to  Jerusalem,  that  several  of  their  body,  who  had 
been  driven  out  of  Judea  by  the  persecutions  raised  about 
Stephen,  had  preached  at  Antioch  with  such  success,  that  a 
great  nurabei',  both  of  Jcm's  and  proselytes,  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, and  were  desirous  that  some  of  the  apostles  should 
come  down  and  visit  them.  This  request  was  immediately 
granted,  and  Barnabas  was  deputed  to  settle  the  new  planta- 
tion ;  and  being  himself  "  a  good  man,  and  full  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  of  faith,"  his  charitable  deeds  accorapanjang  his' 
discourses,  and  his  pious  life  exemplifying  his  sound  doctrine, 
the  people  were  greatly  influenced  by  him,  and  very  consid 


STEPHEN.  369 

erable  additions  were  made  to  tlie  cliristian  cliurch.  But 
there  being  too  large  a  field  for  one  laborer,  he  went  to  fetcli 
Saul  from  Tarsus,  who  came  back  with  him  to  Antioch,  and 
assisted  him  a  whole  year  in  establishing  that  church. 

They  were  afterward  associated  together  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  till  some  difference  arising  between  them,  they  sep- 
arated, after  which,  the  sacred  writings  give  us  no  account 
of  Barnabas ;  nor  are  the  ecclesiastical  writers  agreed  among 
themselves  with  regard  to  the  actions  of  this  apostle  after 
his  sailing  for  Cyjirus. 

This,  however,  seems  to  be  certain,  that  he  did  not  spend 
the  whole  remainder  of  his  life  in  that  island,  but  visited 
different  parts  of  the  world,  preaching  the  glad  tidings  of  the 
gospel,  healing  the  sick,  and  working  other  miracles  among 
the  Grentiles.  After  long  and  painful  travels,  attended  with 
different  degrees  of  success  in  different  places,  he  returned 
to  Cyprus,  his  native  country,  where  he  suffered  martyrdom 
in  the  following  manner :  Certain  Jews  coming  from  Syria 
to  Salamis,  where  Barnabas  was  then  preaching  the  gospel, 
being  highly  exasperated  at  his  success,  fell  upon  him  as  he 
was  disputing  in  the  synagogue,  dragged  him  out,  and  after 
the  most  inhuman  tortures,  stoned  him  to  death.  His  kins- 
man, John  Mark,  who  was  a  spectator  of  this  barbarous 
action,  privately  interred  his  body  in  a  cave,  where  it  is  said 
it  remained  till  the  time  of  the  emperor  Zeno,  in  the  year  of 
Christ,  485,  when  it  was  discovered  with  Matthew's  gospel 
in  Hebrew,  written  with  his  own  hand,  lying  on  his  breast. 

With  regard  to  the  birth,  country,  and  parents  of  Stephen, 
both  the  Scriptures  and  ancient  writers  are  silent. 

Epiphanius  is  of  opinion  that  he  was  one  of  the  seventy 
disciples ;  but  this  is  very  ■uncertain. 

Our  blessed  Saviour  appointed  his  seventy  disciples  to 
teach  the  doctrines  and  preach  the  glad  tidings  of  the  gos- 
pel ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  Stephen  and  the  six  other 
deacons  had  any  particular  designation  before  they  were 
chosen  for  the  service  of  the  tables ;  and  therefore  Stephen 

could  not  have  been  one  of  our  Lord's  disciples,  though  he 

24 


870  STEPHEN. 

might  have  often  followed  him  and  listened  to  his  discourses. 
He  was  remarkably  zealous  for  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
full  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  working  many  wonderful  miracles 
before  the  people,  and  pressing  them  with  the  greatest  earn- 
estness to  embrace  the  gospel.  This  highly  provoked  the 
Jews ;  and  some  of  the  synagogue  of  the  freed  men  of  Cyre- 
nia,  Alexandria,  and  other  places,  entered  into  dispute  with 
him ;  but  being  unable  to  resist  the  wisdom  and  spirit  by 
which  he  spake,  they  suborned  false  witnesses  against  him, 
to  testify  that  they  heard  him  blaspheme  against  Moses  and 
against  God. 

Nor  did  they  stop  here ;  they  stirred  up  the  people  by 
their  calumnies,  so  that  they  dragged  him  before  the  council 
of  the  nation,  or  great  Sanhedrim,  where  they  produced  false 
witnesses  against  him,  who  deposed  what  they,  had  heard 
him  speak  against  the  temple,  and  against  the  law,  and  af&rm 
that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  would  destroy  the  holy  place,  and 
abolish  the  law  of  Moses. 

Stephen,  supported  by  his  own  innocence  and  an  invisible 
power  from  on  high,  appeared  undaunted  in  the  midst  of 
this  assembly,  his  countenance  shining  like  that  of  an  angel ; 
when  the  high  priest  asked  him  what  he  had  to  offer  against 
the  accusations  laid  to  his  charge,  when  he  made  a  speech, 
in  which  he  rehearsed  the  dealings  of  God  with  his  people 
Israel,  and  in  its  application  made  them  feel  the  guilt  of 
betraying  and  murdering  the  Holy  One. 

At  these  words  they  were  so  highly  enraged,  that  they  all 
gnashed  their  teeth  against  him.  But  Stephen,  lifting  up  his 
eyes  to  heaven,  saw  the  glory  of  God,  and  Jesus  standing  at 
the  right  hand  of  Omnipotence ;  upon  which  he  said  to  the 
council,  "  I  see  the  heavens  opened,  and  the  Son  of  man 
standing  at  the  right  hand  of  God."  This  so  greatly  provoked 
the  Jews,  that  they  cried  out  with  one  voice,  and  stopped 
their  ears,  as  if  they  had  heard  some  dreadful  blasphemy ; 
and  falling  upon  him,  they  dragged  him  out  of  the  city,  and 
stoned  him  to  death.  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  on 
these  occasions,  for  the  witnesses  to  throw  the  fii'st  stone. 
Whether  they  observed  this  particular  at  the  martyrdom  of 


TIMOTHY.  871 

Steplien.  is  uncertain ;  but  the  evangelist  tells  us  that  the 
witnesses  were  principally  concerned  in  this  action ;  for  they 
stripped  off  his  clothes,  and  laid  them  at  the  feet  of  a  young 
man  whose  name  was  Saul,  then  a  violent  persecutor  of  the 
christian  church,  but  afterward  one  of  the  most  zealous  preach- 
ers of  the  gospel. 

Stephen,  while  they  were  mangling  his  body  with  stones, 
was  praying  to  his  heavenly  Father  for  their  pardon.  "  Lord," 
said  he,  "  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge."  And  then,  call- 
ing on  his  dear  Eedeemer  to  receive  his  spirit,  he  yielded  up 
his  soul. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

FRIENDSHIP  OF  PAUL  AND  TIMOTHY;    THE  TITLE  OF  BISHOP  CONFERRED 

UPON  THE  LATTER.   PARENTAGE  OF  TITUS;   SCENE  OF  HIS  LABOPxS, 

AND  FINAL  DECEASE  AT  AN  ADVANCED  AGE. 

IMOTHY  was  a  convert  and  disciple  of  Paul. 
He  was  born,  according  to  some,  at  Lystra ;  or, 
according  to  others,  at  Derbe.  His  father  was  a 
Gentile,  but  his  mother  a  Jewess,  whose  name 
was  Eunice,  and  that  of  his  grandmother,  Lois. 
These  particulars  are  noticed,  because  Paul  commends  their 
piety,  and  the  good  education  they  had  given  Timothy. 

When  Paul  came  to  Derbe  and  Lystra,  about  the  year  of 
Christ,  51  or  52,  the  good  report  he  heard  of  Timothy  in- 
duced him  to  take  him  along ;  but  he  initiated  him  at  Lystra, 
before  he  received  him  into  his  company. 

Timothy  applied  himself  to  labor  with  Paul  in  the  business 
of  the  gospel,  and  did  him  very  important  services,  through 
the  whole  course  of  his  preaching. 

It  is  not  known  when  he  was  made  a  bishop ;  but  it  is  be- 
lieved he  received  very  early  the  imposition  of  the  apostles' 
hands ;  and  that  in  consequence  of  a  particular  revelation,  or 


372  TITUS. 

direction  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Paul  calls  him  not  only  his 
dearly-beloved  son,  but  also  his  brother,  the  companion  of 
his  labors,  and  a  man  of  God.  He  declared  that  there  was 
no  one  more  united  with  him  in  heart  and  mind  than 
Timothy. 

He  accompanied  him  on  many  of  his  journeys,  and  when 
Paul  returned  from  Eome,  in  64,  he  left  Timothy  at  Ephesus, 
to  take  care  of  that  church,  of  which  he  was  the  first  bishop, 
as  he  is  recognized  by  the  council  of  Chalcedon. 

Paul  wrote  to  him  from  Macedonia  the  first  of  the  two 
epistles  which  are  addressed  to  him. 

After  the  apostle  came  to  Eome,  in  the  year  65,  being  now 
very  near  his  death,  he  wrote  to  him  his  second  letter,  which 
is  full  of  the  marks  of  his  kindness  and  tenderness  for  this 
dear  disciple,  and  which  is  justly  looked  upon  as  the  last  will 
of  Paul.  He  desires  him  to  come  to  Rome,  and  if  he  did,  as 
is  probably  the  case,  he  must  have  been  a  witness  th^re  of 
the  martyrdom  of  this  apostle,  in  the  year  of  Christ, 
66. 

If  he  did  not  die  before  the  year  97,  we  can  hardly  doubt 
but  that  he  must  be  the  pastor  of  the  church  of  Ephesus,  to 
whom  John  writes  in  his  Revelation  ;  though  the  reproaches 
with  which  he  seems  to  load  him  for  his  declension  in  having 
left  his  first  love,  do  not  seem  to  agree  to  so  holy  a  man  as 
Timothy  was,  or  show  that  men  eminently  holy  may  yet  fall 
from  their  steadfastness. 

The  greater  number  of  interpreters,  however,  think  that 
these  reproaches  do  not  so  much  concern  the  person  of  Timo- 
thy, as  that  of  some  members  of  his  church,  whose  zeal  was 
grown  cool.  But  others  are  persuaded  that  they  may  be  ap- 
plied to  Timothy  himself,  who  made  ample  amends  by  the 
martyrdom  which  he  suffered  for  the  reproaches  mentioned 
by  John. 

Titus  was  a  Gentile  by  religion  and  birth,  but  converted 
by  Paul,  who  calls  him  his  son.  Jerome  says  that  he  was 
Paul's  interpreter ;  and  that  probably  because  he  might  write 
what  Paul  dictated,  or  explained  in  Latin  what  this  apostle 


TITUS.  873 

said  in  Greek ;  or  rendered  into  Greek,  wliat  Paul  said  in 
Hebrew  or  Syriac. 

Paul  took  him  with  him  into  Jerusalem,  when  he  went 
thither  in  the  year  51,  the  vulgar  era,  about  deciding  the 
question  which  was  then  started,  whether  the  converted  Gen- 
tiles ought  to  be  made  subject  to  the  ceremonies  of  the  law. 
Some  would  then  have  obliged  him  to  circumcise  Titus,  but 
neither  he  nor  Titus  would  consent  to  it. 

Titus  was  sent  by  the  same  apostle  to  Corinth,  upon  occa- 
sion of  some  disputes  which  then  divided  the  church.  He 
was  made  bishop  of  the  isle  of  Crete,  about  the  63d  year  of 
Christ,  when  Paul  was  obliged  to  quit  this  island,  in  order 
to  take  care  of  the  other  churches. 

Titus  has  left  an  epistle  which  has  always  been  acknowl- 
edged by  the  church.  It  is  not  certainly  known  from  what 
place  it  was  wi'itten,  nor  by  whom  it  was  sent. 

He  was  deputed  to  preach  the  gospel  in  Dalmatia,  and  he 
was  still  there  in  the  year  65,  when  the  apostle  wrote  his 
second  epistle  to  Timothy.  He  afterward  returned  into 
Crete ;  from  which  it  is  said  he  propagated  the  gospel  into 
the  neighboring  islands.  He  died  at  the  age  of  94,  and  was 
buried  in  Crete.  We  are  assured  that  the  cathedral  of  the 
city  of  Candia  is  dedicated  to  his  name,  and  that  his  head  is 
preserved  there  entire.  The  Greeks  keep  his  festival  on  the 
25th  of  August,  and  the  Latins  on  tlie  4:th  of  January. 


PART    III. 


•;^Ii^.T^^'!^^■^^f♦.H♦ 


■.  *.  *  -^ 


378  IGNATIUS. 

his  reign,  in  the  year  107,  in  his  way  to  the  Parthian  war, 
Ignatius,  fearing  for  the  christians,  and  hoping  to  avert  the 
storm  by  offering  himself  to  suffer  in  their  stead,  came  volun- 
tarily into  the  presence  of  Trajan. 

We  give  the  conference  as  it  stands  in  the  Acts,  a  monu- 
ment of  false  glory  shrouding  itself  under  superstition  and 
ignorance  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  true  glory  supported  by 
the  faith  and  hope  of  Jesus  on  the  other. 

Being  come  into  the  emperor's  presence,  he  was  thus  ad- 
dressed: "What  an  impious  wretch  art  thou,  both  to  trans- 
gress our  commands  and  to  inveigle  other  souls  into  the  same 
folly,  to  their  ruin?" 

Ignatius  answered,  "  Theophorus  ought  not  to  be  called  so; 
for  wicked  spirits  are  departed  from  the  servants  of  God. 
But  if  you  call  me  impious  because  of  my  hostility,  I  own 
the  charge  in  that  respect.  For  I  dissolve  all  their  snares, 
sustained  inwardly  by  Christ,  the  Heavenly  King." 

Pray,  who  is  Theophorus?  said  Trajan.  "He  who  has 
Christ  in  his  breast,"  was  the  reply.  "And  thinkest  thou 
not  that  gods  reside  in  us  also,  who  fight  for  us  against  our 
enemies  ?  "  "  You  mistake  in  calling  the  demons  of  the  na- 
tions by  the  name  of  gods.  For  there  is  only  one  God,  who 
made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is ;  and 
one  Jesus  Christ,  his  only  begotten  son,  whose  kingdom  be 
my  portion." 

"His  kingdom,  do  you  say,  who  was  crucified  under 
Pilate  ?  "  "  His  who  crucified  my  sin  with  its  author,  and 
has  put  all  the  fraud  and  malice  of  Satan  under  their  feet, 
who  carry  hira  in  their  heart."  "  Dost  thou  then  carry  him 
who  was  crucified  within  thee?"  "I  do;  for  it  is  written, 
"  I  will  dwell  in  them,  and  walk  in  them."  Then  Trajan 
pronounced  this  sentence  against  him :  "  Since  Ignatius  con- 
fesses that  he  carries  within  himself  that  was  crucified,  we 
command  that  he  be  carried  bound  by  soldiers  to  great  Eome, 
there  to  be  thrown  to  the  beasts,  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
people." 

Ignatius  was  puzzled  to  conceive  what  could  induce  Tra- 
jan to  order  his  being  sent  so  long  a  journey  for  execution. 


IGNATIUS.  379 

It  might  seem  more  natural  for  him  to  have  ordered  him  to 
suffer  in  view  of  his  own  flock,  in  order  to  deter  them  from 
Christianity.  But  Trajan  might  think  the  example  much 
more  striking  and  extensive  by  using  the  method  which  he 
took.  At  any  rate,  Providence  undoubtedly  displayed  the 
honors  of  the  cross  much  more  copiously  by  this  means,  as  it 
subsequently  appears. 

The  seven  epistles  of  this  great  man,  written  on  his  way  to 
martyrdom, — six  to  churches  of  Asia  Minor  and  one  to  Poly- 
carp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  undoubtedly  genuine  as  they  are, 
and  accurately  distinguished  from  all  -corrupt  interpolations, 
will  come  in  aid  to  the  acts  of  his  martyrdom.  By  them,  he 
being  dead,  yet  speaketh ;  and  what  the  gospel  can  do  for 
men  who  really  believe  it,  and  feel  the  energy  of  the  Spirit 
of  its  Divine  Author,  has  not  often  been  more  illustriously 
displayed. 

From  Antioch  he  was  hurried  by  his  guards  to  Zeleucia ; 
sailing  from  thence,  after  great  fatigue,  he  arrived  at  Smyrna. 
While  the  ship  remained  in  port,  he  was  allowed  the  pleasure 
of  visiting  Polycarp,  who  was  bishop  of  the  christians  there. 
They  had  been  fellow-disciples  of  John ;  and  the  holy  joy  of 
their  interview  may  be  conceived  by  those  who  know  what 
the  love  of  Christ  is,  and  how  it  operates  in  the  breasts  of 
those  in  whom  he  dwells.  Deputies  were  sent  from  the  vari- 
ous churches  of  Asia  to  attend  and  console  him,  and  to  re 
ceive'some  benefit  by  his  spiritual  communications. 

From  hence  he  sent  letters  to  the  churches. 

Four  of  the  seven  were  written  from  Smyrna, — those  to 
churches  of  Ephesus,  Magnesia,  Tralles  and  Eome. 

These  letter^  add  something  to  the  stock  of  history,  as  they 
introduce  to  our  acquaintance  the  Asiatic  churches  of  Mag- 
nesia and  Tralles,  which  else  had  been  unknown  to  us.  They 
show  the  whole  fertile  region  of  Asia  Propria  to  have  been 
more  thoroughly  evangelized  than  any  other  part  of  the 
world  at  that  time.  Indeed,  from  the  time  of  Paul's  labors 
at  Ephesus  to  the  martyrdom  of  Ignatius,  that  is,  for  half  a 
century  or  upward,  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  seems  to  be 
preserved  in  its  purity  in  these  churches. 


380  IGNATIUS. 

The  unaffected  cliarity  and  humility  of  Ignatius  deserve 
attention.  He  alone  seemed  unconscious  of  his  attainments, 
while  the  whole  christian  world  admired  him.  In  his  epistle 
to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  he  says,  "I  do  not  dictate  to  you, 
as  if  I  were  a  person  of  any  consequence.  For,  though  I  am 
» bound  for  the  name  of  Christ,  I  am  not  5^et  perfected  in 
Christ  Jesus. 

"For  now  I  begin  to  be  a  disciple,  and  speak  to  you  as  my 
teachers.  For  I  ought  to  be  sustained  by  you  in  faith,  in 
admonition,  in  patience  and  long-suffering. 

"But,  since  charity  will  not  suffer  me  to  be  silent  concerning 
you,  for  this  reason  I  take  upon  me  to  exhort  you  to  run  to- 
gether with  me  according  to  the  mind  of  God."  Nothing  lies 
more  on  his  heart  in  all  his  epistles  than  to  recommend  the 
most  perfect  union  of  the  members  of  the  church,  and  to  re- 
probate schisms  and  dissensions. 

He  conceives  of  them  as  all  united  to  Jesus  Christ,  all  par- 
taking of  the  same  spiritual  life,  and,  therefore,  to  separate 
from  the  church,  and  to  lose  that  subordination  in  which  they 
all  stood  to  their  pastors,  was  to  tear  in  pieces  the  body  of 
Christ,  and  to  expose  themselves  to  the  seductions  of  those 
who  would  draw  them  from  the  faith  and  hope  of  the  gospel. 

The  subject  of  his  letter  to  the  Eoman  christians  was  to 
entreat  them  not  to  use  any  methods  for  his  deliverance.  He 
had  the  prize  of  martyrdom  before  him,  and  he  was  unwilling 
to  be  robbed  of  it. 

He  speaks  with  uncommon  pathos ;  but  hear  his  own  words : 

"  I  fear  your  charity,  lest  it  should  hinder  me,  for  it  will 
be  easy  for  you  to  do  what  you  please.  But  it  is  difl&cult  for 
me  to  attain  to  God,  if  you  spare  me. 

"If  you  be  silent  in  my  behalf,  I  shall  be  made  partaker 
of  God ;  but  if  you  love  my  flesh,  I  shall  again  have  my 
course  to  run.  I  beseech  you,  that  you  show  not  an  un- 
reasonable benevolence  toward  me.  Suffer  me  to  be  the 
food  of  beasts,  by  whom  I  shall  attain  to  God.  Eather  en- 
courage them,  that  they  may  become  my  sepulchre,  that 
nothing  of  my  body  may  be  left,  that  I  may  give  no  trouble 
to  any  one  when  I  fall  asleep. 


IGNATIUS.  381 

"  Let  fire  and  the  cross,  let  the  companies  of  wild  beasts, 
let  breaking  of  bones  and  tearing  of  limbs,  let  the  grinding 
of  the  whole  body,  and  all  the  malice  of  the  devil  come  upon 
me ;  be  it  so,  only  may  I  enjoy  Jesus  Christ. 

"All  the  ends  of  the  world,  and  the  kingdoms  of  it  will 
profit  me  nothing.     Him  I  desire  who  rose  again  for  us.* 
He  is  my  gain  laid  up  for  me ;  suffer  me  to  imitate  the  passion 
of  my  God." 

•  Certainly  no  words  can  express  in  a  stronger  manner  the 
intenseness  of  spiritual  desire,  and  one  may  look  down  with 
contempt  and  pity  on  all  the  magnanimity  of  secular  heroes 
and  patriots,  as  compared  with  this. 

At  length  being  brought  to  ISTeapolis,  he  passed  through 
Philippi,  through  Macedonia,  and  that  part  of  Epirus,  which 
is  next  to  Epidaranus. 

Having  found  a  ship  in  one  of  the  seaports,  his  conductors 
sailed  over  the  Adriatic,  and  from  thence  entering  into  the 
Tuscan  sea,  and  passing  by  several  islands  and  cities,  they 
came  in  view  of  Puteoli,  which  being  shown  to  him,  he 
hastened  to  go  forth,  desirous  to  tread  in  the  steps  of  the 
apostle  Paul ;  but  a  violent  wind  arising  would  not  permit 
him  to  accomplish  his  design.  The  wind  continuing  favora- 
bly in  one  day  and  night,  "  we  indeed,"  (say  the  relaters  of 
the  martyrdom,  his  attendants,)  "  were  unwillingly  hurried  on, 
as  sorrowing  to  think  of  being  separated  from  the  martyr. 
But  to  him  it  happened  according  to  his  wish,  that  he  might 
sooner  leave  the  world,  and  depart  to  his  Lord  whom  he 
loved.  Wherefore  sailing  into  the  Eoman  port,  and  those 
impure  sports  being  at  an  end,  the  soldiers  began  to  be 
offended  with  his  slowness ;  but  the  bishop  joyfully  complied 
with  their  hastiness." 

The  port  was  at  Ostia,  some  miles  from  Eome,  and  here  he 
was  met  by  the  Roman  christians,  who  intimated  their  strong 
desire  for  his  preservation.  Some  of  them  probably  had 
some  influence,  and  were  willing  to  try  it.  Ignatius,  how- 
ever, was  inflexible.  He  was  brought  to  Eome,  and  pre- 
sented to  the  prefect  of  the  city. 

"When  he  was  led  to  execution,  he  was  attended  by  a 


382  JUSTIN  MARTYR. 

number  of  the  brethren,  and  was  allowed  to  join  in  prayer 
with  them. 

He  was  then  led  into  the  amphitheatre,  and  speedily  thrown 
to  the  wild  beasts.  He  had  here  also  his  wish.  The  beasts 
were  his  grave.  A  few  bones  only  were  left,  which  the 
deacons  gathered,  carefully  preserved,  and  afterward  buried 
at  Antioch. 

Thus  was  the  christian  spirit  fully  exemplified  in  Ignatius, 
and  the  power  of  the  gospel  to  sustain  amid  fiery  persecutions 
clearly  exhibited. 


CHAPTER    II. 

SEARCH  AFTER  TRUTH  ;    EMBRACES  CHRISTIANITY;  HIS  WRITINGS;  APPRE- 
HENDED AND  BROUGHT  BEFORE  THE  GOVERNOR;    HIS  DEATH. 

ip^USTIN  MAETYE  deserves  particular  notice,  as 
being  the  first  among  the  'Apologists"  whose  wri- 
tings have  come  down  to  our  times,  and  the  first 
christian  father,  intimately  known  to  us,  in  whom 
we  observe  Christianity  in  contact  with  the  Hel- 
lenic culture,  and  more  particularly  with  the  Platonic  philos- 
ophy ;  in  which  respect,  he  is  the  precursor  of  the  Alexan- 
drian church  teachers.  The  account  of  his  life  and  education 
is. to  be  derived,  for  the  most  part,  from  his  own  writings. 

He  was  born  at  ISTeapolis,  in  Samaria,  anciently  called 
Sichem, — at  that  time  a  Eoman-Greek  colony,  in  which  the 
Greek  language  and  culture  predominated. 

In  his  youth  he  traveled  for  the  improvement  of  his  under- 
standing, and  Alexandria  afforded  him  all  the  entertainment 
which  an  inquisitive  mind  could  derive  from  the  fashionable 
Btudies. 

The  Stoics  appeared  to  him  at  first  the  masters  of  happi- 
ness. He  gave  himself  up  to  one  of  this  sect,  till  he  found 
he  could  learn  nothing  from  him  of  the  nature  of  God. 


JUSTIN   MARTYE.  383 

He  next  betook  himself  to  a  peripatetic,  whose  anxious 
desire  of  settling  the  price  of  his  instructions  convinced 
Justin  that  truth  did  not  dwell  with  him. 

A  Pythagorean  next  engaged  his  attention,  who,  requiring 
of  him  the  previous  knowledge  of  music,  astronomy,  and 
geometry,  dismissed  him  for  the  present,  when  he  understood 
he  was  unfurnished  with  those  studies. 

In  much  solicitude  he  applied  himself  to  a  Platonic  phi- 
losopher, with  a  more  plausible  appearance  of  success  than 
from  any  of  the  foregoing.  He  now  gave  himself  up  to 
retirement. 

As  he  was  walking  near  the  sea,  he  was  met  by  an  aged 
person  of  a  venerable  appearance,  whom  he  beheld  with 
much  attention.  "Do  you  know  me?"  says  he.  When 
Justin  answered  in  the  negative,  he  asked  him  why  he 
surveyed  him  with  such  attention. 

"  I  wondered,"  said  he,  "  to  find  any  person  here."  "  But 
what  brought  you  here  ?"  says  he.  Justin  professed  his  love 
of  private  meditation ;  the  other  hinted  at  the  absurdity  of 
mere  speculation,  abstracted  from  practice,  which  gave  occa- 
sion to  Justin  to  express  his  ardent  desire  of  knowing  God, 
and  to  expatiate  on  the  praises  of  philosophy.  The  stranger 
by  degrees  endeavored  to  cure  him  of  his  ignorant  admira- 
tion of  Plato  and  Pythagoras,  and  to  point  out  to  him  the 
writings  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  as  being  much  more  ancient 
than  any  of  those  called  philosophers,  and  led  him  to  some 
view  of  Christianity,  in  its  nature  and  in  its  evidences,  adding, 
"  above  all  things,  pray  that  the  gates  of  light  may  be  opened 
to  thee ;  for  they  are  not  discernible,  nor  to  be  understood 
by  all,  except  God  and  his  Christ  give  to  a  man  to  under- 
stand." 

"  The  man  having  spoken  these  things,  and  much  more, 
left  me,"  says  Justin,  "  directing  me  to  pursue  these  things, 
and  I  saw  him  no  more.  Immediately  a  fire  was  kindled  in 
my  soul,  and  I  had  a  strong  affection  for  the  prophets  and 
those  men  who  are  the  friends  of  Christ,  and  weighing 
within  myself  his  words,  I  found  this  to  be  the  only  sure 
philosophy. 


384  JUSTIN  MARTYR. 

"  I  found  the  religion  of  Christ  to  have  a  majesty  in  its 
nature,  adapted  to  terrify  those  who  are  in  the  way  of  trans- 
gression, as  well  as  a  sweetness,  peace,  and  serenity  for  those 
who  are  truly  conversant  with  it.". 

He  owns  in  another  place,  that  the  example  of  christians 
suffering  death  so  serenely  for  their  faith,  moved  his  mind 
not  a  little,  "for,"  said  he,  "when  I  saw  them  meet  death, 
and  all  that  is  accounted  terrible  among  men,  without  dis- 
may, I  knew  it  to  be  impossible  that  they  should  live  in  sin 
and  lust.  I  despised  the  opinion  of  the  multitude ;  I  glory 
in  being  called  a  christian,  and  take  every  pains  to  prove 
myself  worthy  of  the  calling." 

His  conversion  seems  to  have  taken  place  some  time  in  the 
reign  of  Adrian.  "I  found  in  the  doctrine  of  Christ,"  says 
he,  "the  only  sure  and  salutary  philosophy;  for  it  has  in  it 
a  power  to  awe,  which  restrains  those  who  depart  from  the 
right  way ;  and  the  sweetest  peace  is  the  portion  of  them 
that  practice  it.  That  this  doctrine  is  sweeter  than  honey,  is 
evident ;  since  we  who  have  been  formed  by  it,  refuse  to 
deny  his  name,  even  unto  death." 

After  becoming  a  christian,  he  still  retained  the  niantle 
which  he  had  worn  as  a  pagan  philosopher  and  ascetic,  avail- 
ing himself  of  his  former  garb  and  mode  of  life  as  a  means 
which  enabled  him  easily  to  introduce,  in  his  intercourse 
with  men,  religious  and  philosophical  subjects,  and  through 
these  to  prepare  the  way  for  bringing  home  the  gospel  to 
their  hearts.  Thus  he  may  be  regarded  as  an  itinerant 
preacher  in  the  garb  of  a  philosopher. 

Coming  to  Eome  in  the  time  of  Antoninus  Pius,  he  there 
wrote  a  confutation  of  the  heretics ;  particularly  of  Marcion, 
the  son  of  a  bishop  born  in  Pontus,  who  was  ejected  from 
the  church,  and  fled  to  Eome. 

That  holiness,  without  which  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord, 
and  which  was  the  great  design  of  Christ  to  promote,  found 
in  this  pretended  christian  a  cordial  enemy ;  and  Justin,  who 
had  tasted  of  the  holy  nature  of  the  gospel  in  his  own  expe- 
rience, withstood  him  both  in  conversation  and  by  his  wri 
tinn-s. 


JUSTIN  MARTYR.  885 

About  the  year  140,  lie  published  bis  excellent  Apology 
for  the  Christians,  addressed  to  Antonnius  Pius,  which  may 
be  reasonably  supposed  to  have  had  a  considerable  influence 
on  the  political  conduct  of  that  prudent  emperor,  with 
respect  to  christians.  There  was  nothing  in  their  spirit  and 
conduct  to  provoke  persecution.  He  describes  the  customs 
of  the  primitive  christians  in  public  worship,  and  in  the 
administration  of  the  sacraments,  in  order  to  show  the  falsity 
of  the  charges  generally  urged  against  them. 

Not  long  after  this,  he  left  Eome,  and  went  to  Ephesus, 
where  he  had  his  discourse  with  Trypho,  the  Jew,  the  sub- 
stance of  which  he  gives  us  in  a  Dialogue,  the  object  of  which 
is  to  prove  that  Jesus  is  the  Messiah  promised  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  to  refute  the  objections  then  commonly  urged 
by  the  Jews  against  christianitj^  The  philosopher's  cloak 
which  Justin  wore,  led  Trypho  to  accost  him  as  he  was 
taking  a  solitary  walk ;  and  a  conversation  arose  between 
them  about  the  knowledge  of  God,  which  Justin  finally 
turns  to  the  subject  of  Christianity,  and  this  conversation  is 
here  supposed  to  be  put  down  in  writing. 

On  his  return  to  Rome,  he  had  frequent  contests  with 
Crescens,  the  philosopher,  a  man  equally  remarkable  for 
malignity  to  christians,  and  the  most  horrid  vices.  He  now 
presented  his  Second  Apology  to  M.  Antoninus  Philosophus, 
the  successor  of  Pius,  and  a  determined  enemy  to  christians. 

He  was  in  hopes  of  softening  his  mind  toward  the  chris- 
tians, as  he  had  done  that  of  his  predecessor,  but  in  vain, 

Marcus  was  their  enemy  during  his  whole  reign,  and  they 
scarce  ever  had  an  enemy  more  implacable.  He  was  not  a 
man  to  exercise  common  justice  toward  christians. 

The  philosophic  garb  was  no  shield  to  Justin,  even  in  the 
eyes  of  an  emperor,  who  piqued  himself  on  the  surname  of 
philosopher.  The  sincerity  of  his  christian  attachments,  out- 
weighed every  argument  and  every  plausible  appearance  in 
his  favor.  Crescens  procured  his  imprisonment  for  the 
crime  of  being  a  christian,  the  greatest  evil  of  which  a 
human  being  could  be  guilty  in  the  eyes  of  this  emperor. 

He  and  six  of  his  companions  having  been  apprehended, 

25 


£86  JUSTIN     M  A  R  T  Y  11  . 

were  bi-ought  before  Rusticus,  the  prefect,  who,  it  is  supposed, 
had  succeeded  Qurbicius,  a  man  famous  for  his  attachment 
to  stoicism,  and  a  person  of  considerable  eminence.  He  un- 
dertook to  persuade  Justin  to  obey  the  gods,  and  comply  with 
the  emperor's  edicts.  He  defended  the  reasonableness  of  his 
religion.  Upon  which  the  governor  inquired  in  what  kind 
of  learning  and  discipline  he  had  been  educated.  He  told 
him,  that  he  had  endeavored  to  understand  all  kinds  of  dis- 
cipline, and  tried  all  methods  of  learning,  but  finding  satis- 
faction in  none  of  them,  he  at  last  had  found  rest  in  the 
christian  doctrine,  however  fashionable  it  might  be  to  despise 
it.  "Wretch!"  replies  the  indignant  magistrate,  "art  thou 
then  captivated  by  that  religion?"  "I  am,"  says  Justin; 
"  I  follow  the  christians,  and  their  doctrine  is  right."  "  What 
is  their  doctrine?"  was  asked.  "It  is  this,"  was  the  reply: 
"  We  believe  the  one  only  God  to  be  the  Creator  of  all  things 
visible  and  invisible,  and  confess  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to 
be  the  Son  of  God,  foretold  by  the  prophets  of  old,  and  who 
shall  hereafter  appear  the  Judge  of  mankind,  a  Saviour, 
teacher,  and  master  to  all  those  who  are  duly  instructed  by 
him.  As  for  myself,  I  am  too  mean  to  be  able  to  say  any 
thing  becoming  his  infinite  Deity ;  this  was  the  business  of  the 
prophets,  who  many  ages  ago  had  foretold  the  coming  of  the 
Son  of  God  into  the  world."  "  Where  do  the  christians  usu- 
all}^  assemble?"  "The  God  of  the  christians  is  not  confined 
to  au}^  particular  place."  "  In  what  place  do  you  instruct 
your  scholars?"  Justin  mentioned  the  place  in  which  he 
dwelt,  and  told  him  that  there  he  explained  Christianity  to 
all  V/'ho  resorted  to  him.  The  prefect  having  severally  ex- 
amined his  companions,  again  addressed  Justin :  "  Hear  thou, 
who  hast  the  character  of  an  orator,  and  imaginest  thyself  to 
be  in  the  possession  of  truth.  If  I  scourge  thee  from  head 
to  foot,  thinkest  thou  that  thou  shalt  go  to  heaven  ?"  "Al- 
though I  suffer  what  you  threaten,  yet  I  expect  to  enjoy  the 
position  of  all  true  christians,  as  I  know  that  the  Divine 
grace  and  favor  is  laid  up  for  all  such,  and  shall  be  so,  while 
the  world  endures."  "  Do  you  think  you  will  go  to  heaven 
and  receive  a  reward?"     "I  not  onlv  think  so,  but  I  know 


OEIGEN.  387 

it,  and  have  a  certainty  of  it  whicli  excludes  all  doubt." 
Eusticus  insisted  that  they  should  all  go  together,  and  sacri- 
fice to  tlie  gods.  "No  man,  whose  understanding  is  sound," 
replies  Justin,  "  will  desert  true  religion  for  the  sake  of  error 
and  impiety."  "  Unless  you  comply,  you  shall  be  tormented 
without  mercy."  "  AVe  desire  nothing  more  sincerely  than 
to  endure  tortures  for  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  be  saved. 
Hence  our  happiness  is  promoted,  and  we  shall  have  confi- 
dence before  the  awful  tribunal  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  be- 
fore which,  by  the  Divine  appointment,  the  whole  world 
must  appear.  Despatch  quickly  your  purpose,  we  are 
christians,  and  can  not  sacrifice  to  idols."  The  governor 
then  pronounced  sentence :  "As  to  those  who  refuse  to  sacri- 
fice to  the  gods,  and  to  obey  the  imperial  edicts,  let  them  be 
first  scourged,  and  then  beheaded  according  to  the  laws." 

The  martyrs  rejoiced,  and  blessed  God,  and  being  led  back 
to  prison,  were  whipped  and  afterward  beheaded.  The  dead 
bodies  were  taken  by  christian  friends,  and  decently  interred. 

Thus  slept  in  Jesus,  the  christian  philosopher,  Justin, 
about  the  year  163,  and  about  the  third  or  fourth  year  of  the 
reimi  of  Marcus. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY  DOMESTIC  TEACHING;    ENERGY  IN  THE  STUDY  OF  THEOLOGY; 
RRODUCES  SEVERAL  TREATISES;    PERSECUTION  AND  DEATH. 

EIGEiSr,  with  the  surname  Adamantios,  was 
born  in  Alexandria,  in  the  year  185.  In  con- 
nection with  his  early  culture,  it  is  important  to 
remark,  that  his  father  Leonides,  a  devoted 
christian,  and,  as  it  is  conjectured,  a  rhetorician, 
was  in  a  condition  to  give  him  a  good  literary,  as  well  as  a 
pious  christian  education. 

Both  had  an  abiding  influence  on  the  direction  of  his  inner 


388  OR  I  GEN. 

life;  the  development  of  mind  and  heart  proceeded  in  his 
case,  with  equal  step ;  a  striving  after  truth  and  holiness 
continued  ever  to  be  the  actuating  tendency  of  his  life. 

Leonides  made  his  son  commit  daily  a  portion  of  sacred 
Scripture  to  memory.  The  boy  took  great  delight  in  his  task, 
and  already  gave  indications  of  his  profoundly  inquisitive 
mind. 

Not  satisfied  with  the  explanation  of  the  literal  sense, 
which  his  father  gave  him,  he  required  the  thoughts  embod- 
ied in  the  passages  he  had  committed  to  be  fully  opened  out, 
so  that  Leonides  frequently  found  himself  embarassed.  The 
father  eluded,  indeed,  his  inconsiderate  curiosity,  and  ex- 
horted him  to  be  satisfied,  as  became  his  years,  with  the 
literal  sense ;  but  he  secretly  rejoiced  in  the  promising  tal- 
ents of  the  youth,  and  with  a  full  heart  thanked  God  he  had 
given  him  such  a  son. 

Often,  it  is  said,  when  the  boy  was  asleep,  he  would  un 
cover  his  breast,  kissing  it  as  a  temple  where  the  Holy  Spirit 
designed  to  prepare  his  dwelling,  and  congratulated  himself 
that  he  possessed  such  a  treasure. 

When  he  was  a  boy,  he  was  a  pupil  of  Clement  the  cate- 
chist ;  but,  it  is  evident  that  the  education  of  his  father  bad 
more  influence  in  giving  the  first  religious  direction  to  his 
mind,  than  the  instructions  of  Clement. 

A  persecution,  which  befel  the  christians  in  Egypt  under 
the  reign  of  Septimius  Severus,  gave  Origen,  when  a  youth 
of  sixteen,  an  opportunity  of  displajdng  the  ardor  of  his  faith. 

The  example  of  the  martyrs  fired  him  with  such  enthusi- 
asm, that  he  was  ready  to  avow  himself  a  christian  before 
the  pagan  authorities,  and  expose  hiniself  to  certain  death. 

Such  was  the  zeal  of  the  enthusiastic  christian  youth ; 
quite  different  was  the  judgment  of  the  prudent  christian 
man,  who  better  understood  the  nature  of  the  christian  sys- 
tem of  morality,  from  the  study  of  that  system  itself,  and 
from  contemplating  the  life  of  Christ  and  the  apostles. 

AVhen  the  father  of  Origen  himself  was  thrown  into  prison, 
the  son  felt  impelled,  still  more  than  before,  to  go  and  meet 
death  along  with  him,     Eemonstrance  and  entreaty  having 


OEIGEN.  889 

been  tried  in  vain  to  dissuade'  him  from  his  purpose,  his 
mother  knew  of  no  other  way  to  detain  him,  than  by 
concealing  his  garments. 

Then  the  love  of  Christ  so  far  exceeded  all  other  emotions, 
that,  seeing  himself  prevented  from  sharing  in  his  father's 
imprisonment  and  death,  he  wrote  to  him:  "Look  to  it,  that 
thou  dost  not  change  thy  mind  on  our  account." 

Leonides  died  a  martj'r;  and  as  his  property  was  confis- 
cated, he  left  behind  him  a  helpless  widow,  Avith  six  young 
children  besides  Origen.  The  latter  was  kindly  received 
into  the  family  of  a  rich  and  noble  lady  of  Alexandria.  Here 
he  characteristically  displayed  his  steadfast  adherence  to  that 
which  he  had  recognized  as  the  true  faith,  showing  how 
much  he  prized  it  above  all  things  else. 

He  was  soon,  however,  enabled  to  free  himself  from  this 
condition  of  dependence.  Having,  by  his  various  attain- 
ments and  gifts  of  mind,  by  his  zeal  for  the  cause  of  the 
gospel,  and  by  his  pure,  exemplary  life,  acquired  a  name 
among  the  heathens,  he  was  applied  to,  now  that  the  office 
of  catechist  at  Alexandria  had  been  made  vacant  in  the  per- 
secution, by  a  number  who  were  seeking  for  instruction  in 
Christianity ;  and,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  young 
man,  some  were  conducted  to  the  faith,  who  afterward 
became  renowned  as  martyrs  or  teachers  of  the  church. 

By  this  zeal  and  activity  in  promoting  the  spread  of  Chris- 
tianity, he  could  not  fail  to  draw  upon  himself  more  and  more 
the  hatred  of  the  fanatic  multitude.  Often  was  he  rescued 
from  threatening  danger  by  Providence,  when  soldiers  had 
already  surrounded  the  place  where  he  resided,  and  he  was 
obliged  to  escape  secretly  from  one  house  to  another. 

At  one  time  he  was  seized  by  a  band  of  pagans,  who  dressed 
him  in  the  robes  of  a  priest  of  Serapis,  and  conducted  him, 
thus  arrayed,  to  the  steps  of  the  temple.  Here  they  placed 
in  his  hand  a  branch  of  palm,  which  he  was  bid  to  distribute, 
in  the  customary  manner,  to  those  who  entered.  He  did  as 
he  was  bidden,  but  said  to  those  to  whom  he  presented  the 
branches,  "Eeceive  not  the  idol's  palm,  but  the  palm  of 
Christ." 


890  OlilGEN. 

His  successful  labors,  in  imparting  religious  instruction, 
drew  on  him  the  attention  of  Demetrius,  bishop  of  Alexan- 
dria, who  was  induced  to  confer  on  him  the  office  of  catechist 
in  the  Alexandrian  church.  To  this  office,  however,  no  salary- 
was  then  affixed ;  and,  as  he  now  wished  to  have  it  in  his 
power  to  devote  himself  wholly  to  the  labors  of  his  spiritual 
calling  and  to  his  theological  studies,  without  being  interrupt- 
ed or  withdrawn  from  them  by  foreign  occupations,  and  as 
he  did  not  choose  to  be  dependent  on  any  one  for  the  means 
of  subsistence,  he  determined  to  sell  a  collection  of  beautiful 
copies  of  the  ancient  authors,  which  he  had  been  forming,  at 
great  pains,  'for  his  own  use,  to  a  literary  amateur,  who,  in 
compensation,  allowed  him,  for  several  3'ears,  four  oboles  a 
day.  This  was  enough  to  satisfy  the  very  limited  wants  of 
Origen ;  for  he  led  the  life  of  the  most  rigid  ascetic. 

He  now  gave  himself  up  to  the  study  of  the  Bible  and  its 
literal  interpretation,  and  there  began  the  great  change  in  the 
theological  bent  of  his  mind.  It  became  his  endeavor  to 
trace  the  vestiges  of  truth  in  all  human  systems ;  to  examine 
all  things,  that  he  might  every  where  separate  the  true  from 
the  false. 

His  residence  in  Alexandria,  where  sects  so  widely  differ- 
ent were  brought  together ;  his  journey  to  Eome,  (in  the  year 
211 ;)  his  journeys  to  and  Avithin  Palestine,  to  Achaia,  to  Cap- 
padocia,  gave  him  opportunity,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  of  visit- 
ing those  who  pretended  to  any  extraordinary  knowledge, 
and  of  becoming  acquainted  with  and  examining  their  doc- 
trines. He  made  it  his  principle  not  to  suffi3r  himself  to  be 
governed  by  the  traditional  opinion  of  the  multitude,  but  to 
liold  fiist  tbat  only  as  truth  which  he  found  after  unbiased 
examination. 

By  this  liberality  of  mind,  it  was  the  happiness  of  Origen 
to  bring  back  many  heretics,  with  whom  he  fell  in  contact  at 
Alexandria,  particularly  Gnostics,  to  the  simple  doctrine  of 
the  gospel.  One  remarkable  example  of  this  sort  was  Am- 
brosius,  a  wealth}^  man,  who,  not  satisfied  with  the  manner  in 
which  Christianity  had  been  exhibited  to  him,  in  the  common 
representations   of  the   church   teachers,  had   sought,    and 


ORIGEX.  391 

supposed  he  had  found,  a  more  spiritual  conception  of  it  among 
the  Gnostics ;  until,  through  the  influence  of  Origen,  he  was 
undeceived  of  his  error,  and  rejoiced  at  now  finding,  through 
his  means,  the  right  Gnosis  at  the  same  time  with  the  true 
faith.  He  became  Origen's  warmest  friend,  and  endeavored 
especially  to  promote  his  literary  labors  for  the  good  of  the 
church. 

That  he  might  avail  himself  of  every  help,  Origen  studied 
Hebrew,  after  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood, — a  task 
of  some  difficulty  to  a  Greek,  He  undertook  an  emendation 
of  the  biblical  manuscripts,  b}^  comparing  them  with  one 
another.  He  is  the  creator  of  sacred  literature  among  the 
christians,  although  his  arbitrary  j^rinciples  of  interpretation 
prevented  in  his  own  case  the  full  realization  of  all  those 
results  which  might  otherwise  have  been  expected  from  it. 

As  the  number  of  those  who  resorted  to  him  for  religious 
instruction  continued  to  increase,  and  at  the  same  time  his 
literary  labors  on  the  Scriptures,  which  extended  over  a  widen- 
ing field,  claimed  more  of  his  attention ;  in  order  to  gain  time, 
he  shared  the  task  of  catechist  with  his  friend  Heraclas,  giv- 
ing over  to  the  latter  the  preparatory  religious  instruction, 
and  reserving  for  himself  the  exacter  instruction  of  the  more 
advanced. 

The  division  of  his  official  labors  in  this  department  made 
it  possible  for  him  to  enlarge  the  s^Dhere  of  his  activity  as  a 
teacher  of  the  church,  in  giving  a  course  of  lectures,  in  which 
he  expounded  to  his  pupils  all  the  ancient  philosophers  in 
whom  a  moral  and  religious  element  was  to  be  found,  and 
sought  to  train  them  to  that  mental  freedom  which  would 
enable  them  every  where  to  separate  truth  from  the  mixture 
of  falsehood. 

Thus  he  entitled  himself  to  the  great  merit  of  diffusing  a 
more  liberal  system  of  christian  and  scientific  education,  of 
which  the  schools  that  resulted  from  his  labors  are  the 
evidence. 

It  was  also  his  lot  to  conduct  many,  who  had  been  drawn 
to  him  solely  through  the  love  of  science,  by  gradual  steps, 
to  faith  in  the  gospel. 


392  OR  I  GEN. 

Some  opposed  him  in  his  work,  but  the  efforts  of  his  ene- 
mies only  contributed  to  extend  the  sphere  of  his  activity. 
He  removed  to  Palestine,  a  circumstance  important  in  its  con- 
sequences, an  opportunity  being  thus  given  him  of  laboring 
also  from  that  point,  for  the  diffusion  of  a  liberal  scientific 
spirit  in  the  church  ;  and  long  were  the  traces  of  his  activity 
to  be  discerned  in  these  districts. 

Here,  too,  a  circle  of  young  men  gathered  around  him, 
who  were  trained  under  his  influence  to  fill  the  posts  of  theo- 
logians and  church  teachers.  Here  he  composed  among  other 
works  his  treatise  on  the  utility  of  prayer,  and  on  the  exposi- 
tion of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  which  he  addressed  to  his  friend 
A  mbrosius. 

He  maintained  an  active  correspondence  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished church  teachers  in  Cappadocia,  Palestine  and 
Arabia ;  and  he  was  often  invited  to  assist  at  deliberations  on 
the  concerns  of  foreign  churches. 

During  the  persecution  of  Maximin,  the  Thracian,  in 
which  two  of  his  friends  had  much  to  suifer,  he  addressed  to 
them  his  treatise  on  martyrdom,  in  which  he  exhorts  them  to 
steadfastness,  and  at  the  same  time  shows  the  energy  of  his 
unwavering  trust  and  zeal  in  the  gospel  faith. 

At  length  he  was  induced  to  flee  to  a  place  of  safety,  and 
accordingly  repaired  to  Ctesarea  in  Cappadocia ;  but,  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  persecution  there,  he  retired  to  the  house 
of  Juliana,  a  christian  virgin,  who  concealed  and  entertained 
him  in  her  dwelling  during  the  space  of  two  years. 

Here  he  made  an  important  discovery,  in  an  ancient  trans- 
lation, not  before  known  to  exist,  of  some  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  which  enabled  him  to  bring  to  a  completion  the 
great  work  of  collecting  the  ancient  versions  extant,  and  com- 
paring them  with  the  Hebrew, — a  work  in  which  he  had  long 
been  engaged. 

After  the  assassination  of  Maximin,  and  under  the  reign  of 
the  emperor  Gordian,  in  the  year  238,  he  was  enabled  to 
return  once  more  to  Csesarea,  and  resume  there  his  earlier 
labors. 

To  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  occupied  with  theological 


OKI  GEN.  893 

labors.  When  he  was  sixty  years  of  age,  he,  for  the  first 
time,  permitted  his  discourses  to  be  taken  down  by  short- 
hand writers.  In  what  high  consideration  he  stood  with  the 
churches  of  these  countries,  is  evident  from  the  fact,  that  on 
important  ecclesiastical  questions,  where  it  was  difficult  to 
come  to  a  decision,  his  opinion  was  consulted  by  synods  of 
bishops. 

As  an  instance  of  this  kind,  a  controversy  had  been  excited 
by  a  party  among  the  Arabian  christians,  who  asserted  that 
the  human  soul  died  with  the  body,  and  that  it  was  to  be  re- 
vived only  with  the  body  at  the  resurrection, — an  ancient 
Jewish  notion.  The  convention  of  a  gi'eat  synod  came  to  be 
thought  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  settling  these  disputes. 
As  they  could  not  come  to  an  agreement,  Origen  was  sent  for; 
and  it  was  brought  about  by  his  influence  that  the  opponents 
of  the  soul's  natural  immortality  confessed  and  renounced 
their  error. 

Origen,  who,  on  account  of  some  particular  opinions,  was, 
by  a  great  part  of  the  church  stigmatized  as  a  heretic  and 
enemy  to  the  evangelical  scheme  of  faith,  is  said  in  the  last 
daj^s  of  a  life  consecrated  to  labor  and  conflict  in  behalf  of 
that  which  he  considered  to  be  the  cause  of  Christ,  to  have 
refuted  by  his  conduct  the  accusations  of  his  adversaries,  and 
shown  how  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  all  for  the  faith, — how 
he  belonged  to  that  number  Avho  are  willing  to  hate  even 
their  'own  life  for  the  Lord's  sake. 

As  the  fury  of  the  enemies  of  Christianity,  in  the  Decian 
persecution,  was  directed  particularly  against  those  men  who 
were  distinguished  among  the  christians  for  their  station, 
wealth,  or  their  knowledge,  and  their  activity  in  promulgating 
the  faith,  it  was  natural  that  such  a  man  as  Origen  should 
become  a  shining  mark  for  fanatical  cruelty.  After  a  stead- 
flist  confession,  he  was  thrown  into  prison ;  and  here  it  was 
attempted,  in  conformity  with  the  plan  of  the  Decian  perse- 
cution, to  overcome  the  infirmity  of  age,  by  exquisite  and 
gradually  increasing  tortures.  But  the  faith  which  he  bore  at 
heart  sustained  the  weakness  of  old  age,  and  gave  him  power 
to  withstand  every  trial.     After  having  suffered  so  much,  he 


39-i  IREN^US. 

wrote  from  his  prison  a  letter  full  of  consolation  and  encour- 
agement for  others. 

The  circumstances  which  contributed  first  to  moderate^  and 
then  bring  wholly  to  an  end,  this  persecution,  procured  for 
Origen  freedom  and  repose.  Yet  the  sufferings  which  he 
had  undergone  served  perhaps  to  hasten  his  death,  which 
took  place  about  the  year  254,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age. 

His  influence  on  theological  culture  was  no  longer  con- 
nected with  his  person,  but  continued  to  spread  independ- 
ently of  the  man,  through  his  writings  and  his  scholars,  for 
he  left  behind  him  disciples  imbued  with  his  own  spirit,  who 
were  disposed  to  perpetuate  his  teachings,  and  thus  extend 
liis  influence. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


INSTRUCTION  UNDER  POLYCAEP ;    SUCCEEDS  POTHINUS  AS  BISHOP ;    IS  PUT 
TO  DEATH;    CHARACTER  OP  WRITINGS. 


11^ 


T  is  to  be  wished  we  had  a  more  copious  account 
of  this  man.  The  place  of  his  birth  is  quite 
uncertain. 

His  name,  however,  points  him  out  to  be  a 
Grecian.  His  instructors  in  Christianity  were 
Papias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis,  and  the  renowned  Polj^carp. 
The  former  is  generally  allowed  to  have  been  a  man  of  real 
sanctity,  but  of  slender  capacity.  He,  as  well  as  Polycarp, 
had  been  a  disciple  of  John,  and  with  all  the  imbecility  of 
judgment  which  is  ascribed  to  him,  might,  under  God,  have 
been  of  signal  service  to  Irenasus, 

But  the  instructions  of  Polycar^D  seem  to  have  made  the 
deepest  impressions  on  his  mind  from  his  early  life. 

He  still  remembered  in  his  old  age  what  he  had  heard  in 
his  youth  from  his  venerable  teacher,  concerning  the  life  and 
doctrines  of  Christ  and  the  apostles. 


IREN^US  395 

In  a  writing  addressed  to  Florinus,  a  false  teacher,  with 
whom,  in  his  youth,  he  had  enjoyed  the  society  of  Polycarp, 
he  says :  "  These  doctrines,  the  elders  who  preceded  us,  who 
associated  also  with  the  apostles,  did  not  teach  thee;  for 
while  I  was  yet  a  boy,  I  saw  thee  in  company  with  Polycarp, 
in  Asia  Minor ;  for  I  bear  in  remembrance  what  happened 
then,  better  than  what  happens  now.  What  we  have  heard 
in  childhood,  grows  along  with  the  soul,  and  becomes  one 
with  it;  so  that  I  can  describe  the  place  in  which  the  blessed 
Polycarp  sat  and  spake ;  his  going  in  and  out ;  his  manner 
of  life,  and  the  shape  of  his  person ;  the  discourses  he  deliv- 
ered to  the  congregation ;  how  he  told  of  his  intercourse 
with  John  and  the  rest,  who  had  seen  the  Lord ;  how  he 
reported  their  sayings,  and  what  he  had  heard  from  them 
respecting  the  Lord,  his  miracles  and  doctrine. 

"As  he  had  received  all  from  the  eye-witnesses  of  his  life, 
he  narrated  it  in  accordance  with  Scripture. 

"These  things,  by  virtue  of  the  grace  of  God  imparted  to 
me,  I  listened  to,  even  then,  with  eagerness ;  and  wrote  them 
down,  not  on  paper,  but  in  my  heart;  and  by  the  grace  of 
God,  I  constantly  bring  them  up  again  fresh  to  my  memory." 

After  the  martyrdom  of  Pothinus,  bishop  of  Lyons,  Ire- 
nteus  became  his  successor.  Never  was  any  pastor  more 
severely  tried  by  a  tempestuous  scene.  Violent  persecution 
without,  and  subtle  heresies  within,  called  for  the  exertion, 
at  once,  of  consummate  dexterity,  and  of  magnanimous  res- 
olution, 

Irenasus  was  favored  with  a  large  measure  of  both,  and 
weathered  out  the  storm.  But  heresy  proved  a  more  con- 
stant enemy  than  persecution.  The  multiplication  of  it  in 
endless  refinements  induced  him  to  write  his  book  against 
heresies,  which  must  have  been  at  that  time  a  very  season- 
able Avork.  His  vigor  and  charity  also  in  composing  the 
insignificant  disputes  about  Easter  are  noticeable. 

His  labors  in  Gaul  were  doubtless  of  the  most  solid  utility. 
Nor  is  it  a  small  instance  of  the  humility  and  charity  of  this 
great  man,  accurately  versed  as  he  was  in  Grecian  literature, 
that  he  took  pains  to  learn  the  .barbarous  dialect  of  Gaul 


396  IREN^US. 

conformed  liimself  to  tlie  rustic  manners  of  an  illiterate 
people,  and  renounced  the  politeness  and  elegant  traits  of 
his  own  country,  for  the  love  of  souls.  Rare  fruit  of  chris- 
tian charity ! 

Gregory  of  Tours,  and  the  ancient  martyrologists,  inform 
us.,  that  after  several  torments,  Irenoeus  was  put  to  death, 
and  together  with  him,  almost  all  the  christians  of  the  popu- 
lous city  of  Lyons,  whose  numbers  could  not  be  reckoned, 
so  that  the  streets  flowed  with  the  blood  of  christians. 

Ilis  book  of  heresies  is  nearly  the  whole  of  his  writings 
that  have  escaped  the  injuries  of  time.  His  assiduity  and 
penetration  are  equally  remarkable  in  analj'zing  and  dissect- 
ing all  the  fanciful  schemes  with  which  heretics  had  disgraced 
the  christian  name. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  his  views  of  the  gospel  are  in  the 
same  style  as  those  of  Justin,  whom  he  quotes,  and  with 
whose  works  he  appears  to  have  been  acquainted. 

There  is  not  much  of  pathetic,  practical,  or  experimental 
religion  in  the  work.  The  author's  plan,  which  led  him  to 
keep  up  a  constant  attention  to  speculative  errors,  did  not 
admit  it.  Yet  there  is  every  where  so  serious  and  grave  a 
spirit,  and  now  and  then  such  displays  of  godliness,  as  show 
him  very  capable  of  writing  what  might  have  been  singularly 
useful  to  the  church  in  all  ages. 

He  was  evidently  distinguished  for  the  sobriety  of  his 
practical,  christian  spirit, — possessed  of  a  peculiarly  sound 
and  discriminating  tact  in  determining  what  was  of  practical 
moment  in  all  doctrines,  profoundly  penetrated  with  a  sense 
of  the  grandeur  of  God's  works  and  of  the  limited  compass 
of  human  understanding, — perseveringly  opposes  the  humil- 
ity of  knowledge  to  the  arrogant  pretensions  of  Gnostic 
speculation,  and  forms  the  link  of  connection  betwixt  the 
church  of  Asia  Minor  and  that  of  Rome, — representing  in 
himself  what  was  common  to  both. 


CHAPTER  V. 

CertuUiau* 

HIS  PROFESSION;    BECOMES  ASSOCIATED  WITH  MONTANISJI;    HIS 
WHITINGS  AND  CHARACTER. 


W/  9iW^ ERTULLI AN  was  born,  proljablj  at  Cartbage, 
'/7^S^fe>N  in  the  later  times  of  the  second  century.  His 
F-.. pip, ' l£)  father  was  a  centurion  in  the  service  of  the  pro- 
•^(ifcl  consul  at  Carthage.  He  was,  at  first,  an  advocate, 
or  perhaps  a  rhetorician;  nor  did  he  embrace 
Christianity  until  he  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  manhood.  He 
then  obtained,  if  Jerome's  account  is  correct,  the  office  of 
presbyter;  whether  at  Rome  or  at  Carthage  is,  however, 
doubtful.  The  latter  place  is,  in  itself,  the  most  probable ; 
since  in  different  writings,  composed  at  different  times,  he 
discourses  like  one  who  was  settled  in  Carthage ;  though  the 
reports  ofEusebius  and  Jerome  speak  for  the  former.  The 
Avords  of  Eusebius  do  not,  indeed,  directly  say  that  when  a 
christian  lie  took  an  important  place  in  the  Roman  church ; 
but  according  to  the  connection,  may  very  well  mean,  that 
before  his  conversion  to  Christianity,  he  stood  in  high  repute 
at  Rome  as  a  juris-consul.  We  might  then,  to  be  sure,  still 
infer,  that,  if  he  lived  at  Rome  when  a  heathen,  and  enjoyed 
there  so  high  a  reputation,  it  is  also  probable  that  he  was 
there  first  clothed  with  a  spiritual  office. 

He  became  more  or  less  identified  with  Montanism,  a  new 
theory  of  the  times,  a  sort  of  one-sided  super-naturalism  ;  his 
conversion  to  which  may  be  satisfactorily  explained,  from  its 
affinity  with  the  original  bent  of  his  mind  and  feelings. 

The  civilization  of  his  times  proceeded  from  the  difierence 
between  the  two  great  individualities  of  national  character — 
the  Greek  and  the  Roman.  In  the  Greek  predominated  the 
activity  of  the  intellect — the  scientific,  speculative  element. 

The  Roman  character,  on  the  other  hand,  was  less  mobile, 
and   as  in    its    spirit,   the  practical   church  interest  was   so 


898  TERTULLIAN". 

absorbing  as  to  leave  no  room  for  the  scientific,  the  west  -was 
in  want  of  an  organ  whereby  the  spirit  which  prevailed  there 
could  scientifically  express  itself.  Such  an  organ  was  sup- 
plied by  the  church  of  North  Africa  in  Tertullian — a  man 
who  united  in  himself  the  elements  of  the  Eoman  and  of  the 
Carthaginian  character.  "Wanting  the  chaste  sobriety  of 
mind  for  which  Ire;i;nus  was  distinguished,  though  a  foe  to 
speculation,  he  could  not  resist  the  impulses  of  a  profoundly 
speculative  intellect ;  and  to  the  devout  practically  christian 
element  he  united  a  speculative  one, — destitute,  however,  of 
the  regular  form, — which  continued  for  a  long  time  to  operate 
through  various  intermediate  agencies  in  the  western  church, 
until  it  finally  impregnated  the  mind  of  that  great  teacher 
of  centuries,  Augustin,  in  whom  Tertullian  once  more  appears 
under  a  transfigured  form. 

A  great  impression  was  made  on  his  peculiar  temperament 
by  the  remarkable  phenomenon  which  sprung  out  of  the  very 
midst  of  the  spiritual  tendency  of  Asia  Minor,  viz. : — an  oppo- 
sition to  the  speculative  caprice  of  the  times,  and  a  faithful 
seeking  to  preserve  and  hold  fast  the  peculiar,  fundamental 
doctrines  of  Christianity,  so  as  to  secure  them  against  all 
corruptions. 

As  this  forms  an  essential  element  in  his  peculiar  cast  of 
mind,  so  it  was  by  him  that  the  principles  which  lie  at  the 
basis  of  Montanism  were  systematically  determined,  and 
thereby  made  to  have  an  influence  on  the  history  of  western 
theology. 

Among  the  many  ideas  of  this  sect  was  this  one ; — that 
there  were  certain  seasons  or  epochs,  of  the  out-pouring  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  through  which  the  progressive  development 
of  the  church  was  to  be  promoted ;  a  new  momentum  supers 
added  to  its  ordinary,  regular  course  of  development,  and 
designed  to  complete  what  was  lacking  in  it.  In  receiving 
this  principle,  and  looking  round  for  arguments  in  support 
of  it,  Tertullian  endeavored  to  show  the  necessity  of  some 
such  progressive  development  of  the  church,  by  pointing  to 
a  law  running  through  all  the  works  of  God  in  the  kingdoms 
of  nature  and  of  grace. 


TEETULLIAN.  399 

"In  the  works  of  grace,"  said  lie,  "as  in  the  works  of  na- 
ture, which  proceed  from  the  same  Creator,  every  thing  un- 
folds itself  bj  certain  successive  steps.  From  the  seed- 
kernel  shoots  forth  first  the  plant;  then  comes  the  blossom, 
and  finally  this  becomes  the  fruit,  which  itself  arrives  at  ma- 
turity only  by  degrees.  So  the  kingdom  of  righteousness 
unfolds  itself  by  certain  stages.  In  the  first  place,  there  was 
the  fear  of  God  awakened  by  the  voice  of  nature,  without  a 
revealed  law,  (the  patriarchal  religion;)  next  followed  the 
stage  of  childhood  under  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  then  that 
of  youth  under  the  gospel ;  and  at  length  the  unfolding  of 
the  spiritual  life  to  the  ripeness  of  manhood  through  the  new 
out-pouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  connected  with  the  appear- 
ance of  Montanus — through  the  new  instructions  of  the 
promised  Paraclete." 

It  is  a  question  difficult  to  determine,  whether  Tertullian 
always  remained  in  the  same  connection  with  the  Montanistic 
party,  or  whether,  at  some  later  period,  he  again  inclined 
more  to  the  Catholic  church,  and  endeavored  to  strike  out  a 
middle  path  between  the  tv/o  parties. 

The  reports  of  Augustin  and  of  Proedcstinatus  as  well  as 
the  account  given  by  the  latter  of  a  Montanistic  work  of  his, 
in  which  he  labors  to  diminish  the  number  of  controverted 
points  between  the  two  parties,  favor  indeed  the  latter  suppo- 
sition ;  and  on  this  hypothesis  many  writings  of  Tertullian 
which  are  moderately  Montanistic,  or  which  merely  border 
on  such  views,  might  be  assigned  to  a  different  period  of  his 
life. 

These  accounts,  however,  are  not  sufficiently  worthy  of 
credit.  From  the  disposition  of  the  man,  it  may  easily  be 
conceived,  that  he  would  persevere  in  the  mode  of  thinking 
he  had  once  shaped  out  for  himself,  and  only  become  the 
more  obstinate  by  opposition. 

It  is  said  that  he  left  the  party,  and  formed  a  sect  of  his 
own,  called   "  Tertullianists,"  who  continued  in  Africa  till 
Augustin's  time,  by  whose  labors  their  existence  as  a  sect 
was  brought  to  a  clo.5e.     This,  however,  furnishes  no  evi 
dence  in  favor  of  the  supposition ;  for  it  is  possible  that  this 


400  TERTULLIAN. 

sect,  holding  to  the  peculiar  opinions  of  Tertullian,  had  been 
formed  at  a  later  period,  when  separated  from  the  corres- 
pondence with  the  Montanistic  churches  in  Asia. 

The  writings  of  this  man  run  through  the  widest  range  of 
topics  relating  to  christian  doctrine  and  to  christian  life  ;  and 
it  is  here  particularly  important  to  distinguish  those  of  his 
works  which  bear  the  stamp  of  Montanism,  from  those  in 
which  there  are  no  traces  of  that  error. 

They  had  manifestly  an  important  influence  on  the  devel- 
opment of  Cyprian  as  a  doctrinal  writer.  Jerome  states,  after 
a  tradition  which  was  said  to  have  come  from  a  secretary  of 
Cyprian,  that  the  latter  was  in  the  habit  of  reading  some- 
thing daily  from  the  writings  of  Tertullian,  whom  he  was  ac- 
customed to  call  emphatically  the  Teacher.  He  has  one  work 
called  "  His  Apology,"  in  which  his  eloquence  and  argument- 
ative powers  appear  most  conspicuous.  It  exhibits  a  beauti- 
ful view  of  the  manners  an,d  spirit  of  the  christians  of  his 
time.  AVe  give  a  single  quotation,  which  may  serve  to  illus- 
trate the  subject,  and  show  what  real  Christianity  does  for 
men. 

"  We  pray,"  says  he,  "  for  the  safety  of  the  emperors  to  the 
eternal  God,  the  true,  the  living  God,  whom  emperors  them- 
selves would  desire  to  be  propitious  to  them  above  all  others 
who  are  called  gods.  We,  looking  up  to  heaven  with  out- 
stretched hands,  because  they  are  harmless;  with  naked 
head,  because  we  arc  not  ashamed;  without  a  prompter, 
because  we  pray  from  the  heart,  constantly  pray  for  all  em- 
perors, that  they  may  have  a  long  life,  a  secure  empire,  a 
safe  house,  strong  armies,  a  faithful  senate,  a  well-moralized 
people,  a  quiet  state  of  the  world,  Avhatever  Caesar  would 
Avish  for  himself  in  his  public  and  private  capacit}^  I  can 
not  solicit  these  things  from  any  other  than  from  Him  from 
whom,  I  know,  I  shall  obtain  them,  because  He  alone  can  do 
these  things,  and  I  am  he  who  may  expect  them  of  Him, 
being  His  servant,  who  worship  Him  alone,  and  lose  my  life 
in  His  service.  Thus,  then,  let  the  hoofs  pierce  us,  while  our 
hands  are  stretched  out  ii>  God,  let  crosses  suspend  us,  let 
fires  consume  us,  let  SAVoros  pierce  our  breasts,  let  wild  beasts 


TERTULLIAN.  401 

trample  on  us, — a  praying  christian  is  in  a  frame  for  endur- 
ing any  thing." 

From  this  one  may  form  an  idea  of  the  purity,  integrity, 
heavenly-mindedness,  and  passiveness  under  injuries,  for 
which  the  first  christians  were  so  justly  renowned. 

Tertullian  presents  claims  to  attention,  both  as  the  first 
representative  of  the  theological  tendency  in  the  North 
African  church,  and  as  a  representative  of  the  Montanistic 
mode  of  thinking.  He-  was  a  man  of  an  ardent  and  profound 
spirit,  of  warm  and  deep  feelings ;  inclined  to  give  himself 
up,  with  his  whole  soul  and  strength,  to  the  object  of  his 
love,  and  sternly  to  repel  every  thing  that  was  foreign  from 
this.  He  possessed  rich  and  various  stores  of  knowledge, 
which  had  been  accumulated,  however,  at  random,  and  with- 
out scientific  arrangement.  His  profoundness  of  thought 
was  not  united  with  logical  clearness  and  sobriety ;  an  ardent, 
unbridled  imagination,  moving  in  a  world  of  sensuous  im- 
ages, governed  him.  His  fiery'and  positive  disposition,  and 
his  previous  training  as  an  advocate  or  rhetorician,  easily 
impelled  him,  especially  in  controversy,  to  rhetorical  exag- 
gerations. When  he  defended  a  cause,  of  whose  truth  he  was 
convinced,  we  often  see  in  him  the  advocate,  whose  sole 
anxiety  is  to  collect  together  all  the  arguments  which  can 
help  his  case,  it  matters  not  whether  they  are  true  arguments, 
or  only  plausible  sophisms ;  and  in  such  cases,  the  very  exu- 
berance of  his  wit  sometimes  leads  him  astray  from  the  sim- 
ple feeling  of  truth. 

What  must  render  this  man  a  phenomenon  presenting 
special  claims  to  the  attention  of  the  christian  historian,  is 
the  fact  that  Christianity  is  the  inspiring  soul  of  his  life  and 
thoughts ;  that  out  of  Christianity  an  entirely  new  and  rich 
inner  world  developed  itself  to  his  mind :  but  the  leaven  of 
Christianity  had  first  to  penetrate  through  and  completely 
refine  that  fiery,  bold,  and  withal  rugged  nature.  We  find 
new  wine  in  an  old  bottle ;  and  the  tang  which  it  has  con- 
tracted there,  may  easily  embarrass  the  inexperienced  judge. 
He  often  had  more  within  him  than  he  was  able  to  express ; 

the  overflowing  mind  was  at  a  loss  for  suitable  forms  of 

26 


402  PANT^NUS. 

phraseology.  He  had  to  create  a  langiiage  for  the  new  spirit- 
ual matter, — and  that  out  of  the  rude  Punic  Latin, — without 
the  aid  of  a  logical  and  grammatical  education,  and  as  he 
was  hurried  along  in  the  current  of  thoughts  and  feelings  by 
his  ardent  nature. 

And  hence  this  great  church-teacher,  who  unites  great 
gifts  with  great  failings,  has  been  so  often  misconceived  by 
those  who  could  form  no  friendship  with  the  spirit  which 
dwelt  in  so  ungainly  a  form. 

He  seems  to  have  partaken  somewhat  of  the  stoical  nature, 
having  little  of  that  sympathy  for  the  weak,  Avhich  forms  a 
beautiful  part  of  the  christian  character. 

He  was  of  great  natural  fortitude  himself,  and  most  prob- 
ably of  great  strength  of  body,  as  he  lived  to  an  advanced 
age. 

On  the  manner  of  his  death  the  historian  is  silent,  but  his 
life  is  sufficient  to  show  that  he  took  large  pains  in  support- 
ing what  he  took  to  be  rdigion,  and  ever  meant  to  serve 
God. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PECULIAR  PHILOSOPHY;  LABORS  IN  INDIA ;   CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER. 

NE  of  the  most  respectable  cities  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  Roman  empire  was  Alexandria,  the 
metropolis  of  Egypt. 

Here  the  gospel  had  been  planted  by  Mark,  and 
from  the  considerable  success  which  had  attended 
it,  in  most  capital  towns,  it  is  probable  that  many  were  con- 
verted. But  of  the  first  pastors  of  this  church,  and  of  the 
work  of  God  among  them,  we  have  no  account.  Our  most 
distinct  information  begins  with  what  is  evil.  The  platonic 
philosophers  ruled  the  taste  of  this  city,  which  piqued  itself 
on  its  superior  erudition.    Ammonias  Sacas  had  reduced  there 


PANT^NUS.  403 

< 

the  notions  of  the  learned  into  a  system,  which  intended  to 
embrace  all  sorts  of  sentiments,  and  his  successors  for  several 
ages  followed  his  plan. 

We  are  told  that  from  Mark's  time,  a  christian  catechetical 
school  was  supported  here.  Whether  it  be  so  or  not,  Pantse- 
nus  is  the  first  master  of  it  of  whom  we  have  any  account. 

He  figured  in  the  last  half  of  the  second  century,  and  was 
called  the  "  learned  Alexandrian  teacher J^ 

It  would  seem  from  a  passage  of  Eusebius  that  he  was  a 
Hebrew  by  descent. 

He  had  by  tradition  the  true  doctrine,  received  from  Peter, 
James,  John  and  Paul ;  and  no  doubt  he  deserved  this  testi- 
mony, notwithstanding  the  unhappy  mixture  of  philosophy 
which  he  imbibed  in  this  region. 

For  he  was  very  much  addicted  to  the  sect  of  the  Stoics,  a 
sort  of  romantic  pretenders  to  perfection,  which  doctrine  flat- 
tered human  pride,  but  was  surely  ill  adapted  to  our  natural 
imbecility,  and  the  views  of  innate  depravity. 

The  combination  of  this  with  Christianity  must  have  de- 
based the  Divine  doctrine  very  much  in  the  system  of  Pantse- 
nus ;  and,  though  his  instructions  clouded  the  light  of  the 
gospel  among  those  who  were  disposed  implicitly  to  follow 
his  dictates,  yet  it  is  not  improbable  but  that  many  of  the 
simple  and  illiterate  christians  there  might  happily  escape  the 
infection,  and  preserve,  unadulterated,  the  genuine  simplicity 
of  the  faith  of  Christ.  The  bait  of  reasoning  pride  lies  more 
in  the  way  of  the  learned ;  and,  in  all  ages,  they  are  more 
prone  to  snatch  at  it. 

Pantoenus  always  retained  the  title  of  the  stoic  philosopher, 
after  he  had  been  admitted  to  eminent  employments  in  the 
christian  church.  For  ten  years  he  labcriously  discharged 
the  office  of  catechist,  and  freely  taught  all  that  desired  him, 
whereas  the  school  of  his  predecessors  had  been  more  private. 

Some  Indian  ambassadors,  (from  what  part  of  India  they 
came  it  is  not  easy  to  determine,)  entreated  Demetrius,  then 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  to  send  them  some  worthy  person  to 
preach  the  faith  in  their  country.  Pantsenus  was  fixed  on  as 
the  person,  and  the  hardships  he  must  have  endured  in  it 


404  PANT^NUS. 

were  doubtless  great.  But  there  were  at  that  time  many 
evangelists,  who  had  the  apostolical  spirit  to  propagate  the 
faith  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives. 

And  as  Pantasnus  very  freely  complied  with  this  call,  we 
have  here  one  of  the  best  proofs  of  his  being  possessed  of  the 
spirit  of  the  gospel.  His  labors  among  ignorant  Indians, 
where  neither  fame,  nor  ease,  nor  profit  were  attainable,  ap- 
pear much  more  substantial  proofs  of  his  godliness  than  his 
catechetical  employments  at  Alexandria  could  be.  The 
former  would  oblige  him  to  attend  chiefly  to  christian  funda- 
mentals, and  could  afford  little  opportunity  of  indulging  the 
philosophic  spirit. 

We  are  told  he  found  in  India  the  gospel  of  Matthew, 
which  had  been  carried  thither  by  the  apostle,  Bartholomew, 
who  had  first  preached  amongst  them.  Doubt,  however, 
exists  as  to  the  truth  of  this. 

Of  the  particular  success  of  his  labors,  we  have  no  account; 
but  he  lived  to  return  to  Alexandria,  and  resumed  his  cate- 
chetical office.  He  died  not  long  after  the  commencement  of 
the  third  century.  He  used  to  instruct  more  by  word  than 
by  writing.  Some  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures  are  all 
that  are  mentioned  as  his,  and  of  them  not  a  fragment 
remains. 

Candor  requires  us  to  look  on  this  man  as  a  sincere  chris- 
tian, whose  fruitfulness  was  yet  yery  much  checked  by  that 
very  philosophy  for  which  Eusebius  so  highly  commends 
him.  A  blasting  wind  it  surely  was,  but  it  did  not  entirely 
destroy  christian  vegetation  in  all  whom  it  infected. 

But  the  christian  reader  is  prepared  to  expect  a  declension 
in  Divine  things,  in  the  state  of  the  church  before  us. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SUCCEEDS  PANT^NUS;    HIS  WRITINGS  THE  INDEX  OF  HIS  MIND; 
QUOTATIONS  FROM  HIS  WORKS. 


I  HIS  man  was,  by  his  own  confession,  a  scholar  of 
Pantoenus,  and  of  the  same  philosophical  cast  of 
mind.  He  was  of  the  eclectic  sect.  It  is  sin- 
cerely to  be  regretted  that  Clemens  had  any  ac- 
quaintance with  them ;  so  far  as  he  mixed  Chris- 
tianity with  their  notions,  so  far  he  tarnished  it,  and  by  his 
zeal,  activity,  learning,  and  reputation,  at  the  same  time  that 
he  taught  many,  he  clouded  the  light  of  the  gospel  among 
those,  who  yet  in  fundamentals,  were  profited  by  his 
instruction. 

He  describes  himself  thus:  "I  espouse  not  this  or  that 
philosophy ;  not  the  stoic,  nor  the  platonic,  nor  the  epicurean, 
nor  that  of  Aristotle ;  but  whatever  any  of  these  sects  have 
said,  that  was  fit  and  just,  that  taught  righteousness  with  a 
Divine  and  religious  knowledge,  selecting  all  this,  I  call  it 
philosophy." 

He  succeeded  his  master  Pantasnus  in  the  catechetical 
school,  and  under  him-  were  reared  the  famous  Origen,  Alex- 
ander, bishop  of  Jerusalem,  and  other  eminent  men. 

Besides  this  office,  he  was  made  presbyter  in  the  church 
of  Alexandria.  During  the  persecution  under  Severus,  most 
probably,  he  visited  the  east,  and  had  a  peculiar  intimacy 
with  Alexander,  the  bishop.  He  appears  to  have  been  a 
holy  man;  and  suffered  imprisonment  for  the  faith,  and  in 
that  situation  wrote  a  letter  to  the  church  of  Antioch,  which 
was  carried  by  Clemens. 

Something  of  the  spirit  of  Christianity  appears  in  the  frag- 
ments of  this  letter :  "Alexander,  a  servant  of  God,  and-  a 
prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  blessed  church  at  Antioch, 
in  the  Lord,  greeting.     Our  Lord  has  made  my  bonds,  in 


406  CLEMENS    ALEXANDRINUS. 

this  time  of  my  imprisonment,  light  and  easy  to  me ;  while 
I  understood  that  Asclepiades,  a  person  admirably  qualified 
by  his  eminency  in  the  faith,  was,  by  Divine  providence,  be- 
come bishop  of  your  holy  church  of  Antioch.  These  letters, 
brethren,  I  have  sent  by  Clemens,  the  blessed  presbyter,  a 
man  of  approved  integrity,  whom  ye  both  do  already  and 
shall  still  further  know ;  who  having  been  here  with  us  ac- 
cording to  the  good  will  of  God,  hath  much  established  and 
augmented  the  church  of  Christ." 

From  Jerusalem  Clemens  went  to  Antioch,  and  afterward 
returned  to  his  charge  at  Alexandria. 
The  time  of  his  death  is  uncertain. 

The  philosphy,  to  which  he  was  so  much  addicted,  would 
naturally  darken  his  views  of  some  of  the  most  precious 
truths  of  the  gospel ;  particularly  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  will  always  suffer  from  this  connec- 
tion, the  philosophers  knowing  no  righteousness  but  what  is 
infused. 

There  is  doubtless  good  proof  of  the  solid  piety  of  this 
learned  man. 

Little  is  known  of  his  life.  But  a  more  complete  idea  may 
be  formed  of  his  religious  taste  and  spirit,  by  his  writings. 

His  "  exhortations  to  the  Gentiles,"  is  a  discourse  written 
to  convert  the  pagans  from  their  religion,  and  persuade  them 
to  embrace  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  beginning  of  it  he 
shows  what  difference  there  is  between  the  design  of  Christ, 
and  that  of  Orpheus,  and  those  ancient  musicians  who  were 
the  first  authors  of  idolatry,  by  telling  us  that  these  drew  in 
men  by  their  singing  and  the  sweetness  of  their  music,  to 
render  them  miserable  slaves  to  idols,  and  to  make  them  like 
the  very  stones  whom  they  adored. 

"Whereas  Jesus  Christ,  who  from  all  eternity  was  the 
word  of  God,  always  had  a  compassionate  tenderness  for 
men,  and  at  last  took  their  nature  upon  him,  to  free  tbem 
from  the  slavery  of  demons,  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind, 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf,  to  guide  their  feet  in  the  way  of 
righteousness,  to  deliver  them  from  death  and  hell,  and  to 
bestow  on  them   everlasting   life,  and  to  put  them  into  a 


^ 


^ 


i?J 


408  CLEMENS    ALEXANDRINUS. 

and  error  out  of  the  Greek  philosophers  and  the  systems  of 
the  christian  sects,  in  connection  with  fragments  of  the  true 
Christianity.  Each  should  find  out  for  himself  what  suited 
his  case ;  it  was  his  aim  to  excite  rather  than  to  teach ;  and 
he  often  purposely  only  hinted  at  the  truth,  where  he  might 
fear  to  give  offense  to  the  believers  who  were  as  yet  incapable 
of  comprehending  his  ideas. 

The  eighth  book  of  this  work  is  wanting,  for  as  early  as 
the  times  of  Photius  it  was  lost. 

In  this  work  he  speaks  with  his  usual  partiality  in  favor 
of  philosophy,  and  shows  the  effect  his  regard  for  it  had  on 
his  own  mind,  by  sa3nng  that  faith  is  God's  gift,  but  so  as  to 
depend  on  our  own  free  will. 

His  account  of  the  perfect  christian,  whom  he  calls  Gnosti- 
cus,  is  sullied  by  stoical  rhapsodies :  "  He  is  never  angry, 
and  nothing  affects  him ;  because  he  always  loves  God,  and 
will  look  upon  that  time  as  lost  which  he  is  obliged  to  spend 
in  receiving  nourishment.  He  is  employed  in  continual  and 
mental  prayer.  He  is  mild,  affable,  patient,  but  at  the  same 
time  so  rigid  as  not  to  be  tempted,  neither  giving  way  to 
pleasure  or  pain." 

Many  fragmentary  ideas,  sketched  with  masterly  power, 
and  containing  the  germs  of  a  thorough,  systematic  theologi- 
cal system,  lie  scattered  in  his  works,  amidst  a  profusion  of 
vain  and  hollow  speculations. 

Withal  is  seen  the  baneful  effect  of  mixing  things  which 
will  not  incorporate, — human  invention  with  christian  truth , 
so  that  this  writer,  learned,  laborious,  and  ingenious,  as  he 
was,  in  the  subject  of  real  christian  knowledge,  and  in  the 
experience  of  Divine  things,  according  to  the  light  of  Scrip- 
ture, may  seem  to  be  far  exceeded  by  many  obscure  and 
illiterate  persons  at  this  day. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HISTORY  OF  HIS  CONYERSIOX;    HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS;    COIfDUCT  IN  EE- 

TIllEMENT;  ZEAL  FOR  THE  CHURCH;  SUFFERS  MARTYRDOil 

UNDER  THE  REIGN  OF  VALERIAN. 

YPEIAN,  of  the  third  century,  was  a  star  of  the 
first  magnitude  in  his  time.  Very  little  distinct 
information  is  to  be  gathered  from  his  biographer, 
Pontius ;  but  his  own  letters  are  extant,  and  these 
exhibit  what  is  of  the  greatest  moment.  They 
are,  in  truth,  a  valuable  treasure  of  ecclesiastical  history ;  the 
spirit,  taste,  discipline  and  habits  of  the  times  among  chris- 
tians, are  strongly  delineated ;  nor  have  we  in  all  this  century 
any  account  to  be  compared  with  them. 

He  was  a  professor  of  oratory  in  the  city  of  Carthage,  and 
a  man  of  wealth,  quality,  and  dignity.  Cecilius,  a  Cartha- 
ginian presbyter,  had  the  felicity,  under  God,  to  conduct  him 
to  the  knowledge  of  Christ ;  and  in  his  gratitude,  Cyprian 
afterward  assumed  the  proenomen  of  Cecilius.  His  conver- 
sion was  about  the  year  246,  two  years  before  he  was  chosen 
bishop  of  Carthage.  About  thirteen  years  was  the  whole 
scene  of  his  christian  life.  But  God  can  do  great  things  in  a 
little  time,  or  to  speak  more  nervously  with  the  sacred  writer, 
"  one  day  is  with  the  Lord  as  a  thousand  years." 

He  did  not  proceed  by  slow,  painful  steps  of  argumenta- 
tion, but  seems  to  have  been  led  on  with  vast  rapidity  by  the 
effectual  operation  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  happily,  in  a 
great  measure  at  least,  to  have  escaped  the  shoals  and  quick- 
sands of  false  learning  and  self-conceit,  which  so  much  tar- 
nished the  character  of  many  of  his  eastern  brethren.  Faith 
and  love  seem  in  native  simplicity  to  have  possessed  him 
when  an  early  convert,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  animated 
by  a  spirit  at  once  simple,  zealous,  and  intelligent. 


4:10  CYPRIAN. 

It  was  with  much  reluctance  he  observed  the  designs  of 
the  people  to  choose  him  for  their  bishop.  He  retired  to 
avoid  their  solicitations,  his  house  was  besieged,  and  his 
retreat  rendered  impossible.  He  yielded  at  length  to  accept 
of  the  painful  preeminence,  for  so  he  soon  found  it.  Yet 
five  presbyters  were  enemies  to  his  exaltation,  but  his  lenity, 
patience,  and  benevolence  toward  them  was  remarked  by  all. 

It  was  no  feigned  virtue  that  advanced  him  thus  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people.  The  love  of  Christ  evidently  preponder- 
ated in  him  above  all  secular  considerations. 

He  saw  with  pity  the  poor  of  the  flock,  and  he  knew  no 
method  so  proper  of  employing  the  unrighteous  mammon, 
as  to  relieve  their  distress.  He  sold  whole  estates  for  their 
benefit.  His  wife  opposed  his  christian  spirit  of  liberality  in 
vain.  The  widow,  the  orphan,  and  the  poor,  found  in  him  a 
sj^mpathizing  benefactor  continually.  The  presbyter,  Cecil- 
ius,  must  have  beheld  with  delight,  the  growing  virtues  of 
his  pupil,  and,  dying,  recommended  to  his  care  his  wife  and 
children. 

Pontius  tells  us  that  he  did  many  things  before  he  was 
chosen  bishop.  Indeed,  a  spirit  like  his  must  be  employed. 
But  he  does  not  oblige  us  with  the  communication  of  any  of 
his  works.  His  letter  to  Donatus  may  safely  be  placed 
within  this  period,  as  it  is  said  to  be  his  first  work. 

Part  of  this,  as  it  will  illustrate  his  conversion,  and  show 
the  spirit  of  a  man  penetrated  with  Divine  love,  and  lately 
recovered  from  the  idolatry  of  the  world,  well  deserves  notice. 

"I  find  your  whole  care  and  concern,"  he  says,  "at  present 
is  for  conversion ;  you  look  at  me,  and  expect  from  me  in 
your  affection,  what  I  am  afraid  I  can  not  by  any  means 
answer.  Small  fruits  must  be  expected  from  my  meanness ; 
yet  I  will  attempt,  for  the  subject  matter  is  on  my  side. 

"  Let  plausible  arts  of  ambition  be  used  in  courts ;  but 
when  we  speak  of  the  Lord  God,  plainness  and  sincerity, 
not  the  powers  of  eloquence,  should  be  used.  Hear,  then, 
things  not  eloquent,  but  strong ;  not  courtly,  but  rude ;  yet 
proper  to  celebrate  the  Divine  goodness.  Hear,  then,  what 
is  felt  before  it  is  learnt,  and  is  not  collected  by  a  long  course 


CYPRIAN.  411 

of  speculation,  but  is  imbibed  by  tbe  soul,  by  the  compen- 
dium of  grace  ripening  her  as  at  once. 

"  While  I  lay  in  darkness  and  the  night  of  paganism,  and 
when  I  fluctuated,  uncertain  and  dubious  with  wandering 
steps  in  the  sea  of  a  tempestuous  age,  ignorant  of  my  own 
life,  alienated  from  light  and  truth,  it  appeared  to  me  a  harsh 
and  difficult  thing,  as  my  manners  then  were,  to  obtain  what 
Divine  grace  had  promised,  that  a  man  should  be  born  again; 
and  that,  being  animated  with  the  love  of  regeneration  by  a 
new  life,  he  should  strip  himself  of  what  he  was  before,  and 
though  the  body  remained  the  same,  he  should  in  his  mind 
become  altogether  a  new  creature.  How  can  so  great  a 
change  be  possible,  said  I,  that  a  man  should  suddenly  and 
at  once  put  off  what  nature  and  habit  have  confirmed  in 
him  ? 

"  But  after  the  new  birth  had  made  me  a  new  creature 
indeed,  immediately  and  in  an  amazing  manner  dubious 
things  began  to  be  cleared  up,  things  once  shut  to  be  opened, 
dark  things  to  shine  forth  ;  what  before  seemed  difficult,  now 
appeared  feasible,  and  that  was  now  evidently  practicable, 
which  had  been  deemed  impossible. 

"  Of  God  it  is, — of  God,  I  say,  even  all  that  we  can  do ; 
thence  we  live,  thence  we  have  strength,  and  thence  con- 
ceive and  assume  all  vigor. 

"  What  a  power,  what  an  energy,  is  this !" 
•  Thus  do  we  see  the  essential  doctrines  of  justification  and 
regeneration,  by  Divine  grace,  not  only  believed,  but  experi- 
enced, by  this  zealous  African.  The  difference  between 
mere  human  and  Divine  teachino;  is  rendered  more  strikinsr 
by  such  cases.  With  no  great  furnvture  of  learning,  it  was 
his  happiness  to  know  little,  if  any  thing,  of  the  then  reign- 
ing philosophy.  We  see  a  man  of  business  and  the  world 
rising  at  once  a  Phoenix  in  the  church,  no  extraordinary  the- 
ologian, in  point  of  accurate  knowledge,  3^et  an  useful,  prac- 
tical divine,  an  accomplished  pastor^  flaming  with  the  love 
of  God  and  of  souls,  and  with  unremitted  activity  spending 
and  being  spent  for  Christ  Jesus. 

Hear  his  words  of  counsel :  "  Do  you,  whom  the  heavenly 


412  CYPRIAN. 

warfare  hath  marked  for  Divine  service,  only  preserve,  un- 
tainted and  sober,  your  christian  course  by  the  virtues  of 
religion.  Let  prayer  or  reading  be  your  assiduous  employ- 
ment; one  while  speak  with  God,  another  while  hear  him 
speak  to  you ;  let  him  instruct  you  by  his  precepts,  let  him 
regulate  you ;  whom  he  hath  made  rich,  none  shall  make 
poor.  There  can  be  no  penury  to  him  whose  heart  has 
once  been  fattened  with  celestial  marrow."  In  this,  one  sees 
a  christian  alive,  possessed  of  some  rich  portion  of  that  effu- 
sion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which,  from  the  apostles'  days,  still 
exhibited  Christ  Jesus,  and  fitted  by  experience  to  communi- 
cate to  others  the  real  gospel,  and  to  be  an  happy  instrument 
of  guiding  souls  to  that  rest  which  remains  for  the  people  of 
God. 

How  Cyprian  conducted  himself  in  his  bishopric,  who  is 
sufficient  to  relate  ?  says  Pontius,  in  the  fullness  of  his  admi- 
ration. Some  particular  account,  however,  might  have  been 
expected  from  one  who  had  such  large  opportunity  of  inform- 
ation. One  thing  he  notices  of  his  external  appearance. 
His  looks  had  the  due  mixture  of  gravity  and  cheerfulness, 
so  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  he  was  more  worthy  of  love 
or  of  reverence.  His  dress  also  was  correspondent  to  his 
looks  ;  he  had  renounced  the  secular  pomp  to  which  his  rank 
in  life  entitled  him,  yet  he  avoided  affected  penury, — con- 
duct that  might  be  expected  from  one  of  his  piety  and  good 
sense.  ' 

While  Cyprian  was  laboring  to  recover  the  spirit  of  godli- 
ness among  the  Africans,  which  long  peace  had  corrupted, 
Philip  was  slain,  and  succeeded  by  Decius. 

His  enmity  to  the  former  emperor  conspired  with  his 
Pagan  prejudices  to  bring  on  the  most  dreadful  persecution 
which  the  church  had  yet  experienced.  It  was  evident  that 
nothing  less  than  the  destruction  of  the  christian  name  was 
intended. 

Cyprian  was  earnest,  in  every  possible  way,  in  encouraging 
the  christians  to  hold  on  their  way,  though  it  led  them  to  the 
fires  of  martyrdom. 

But  Carthage  soon  became  an  unsafe  scene  to  Cyprian 


CYPRIAN.  413 

himself.  By  repeated  suffrages  of  the  people,  at  the  theatre, 
he  was  demanded  to  be  taken  and  given  to  the  lions  ;  and  it 
behooved  him  immediately  either  to  retire  into  a  place  of 
safety,  or  to  expect  the  crown  of  martyrdom. 

He  knew  the  liberty  which  his  Divine  Master  had  given 
to  his  people  of  fleeing,  when  they  were  persecuted  in  one 
city,  to  another ;  and  he  embraced  it.  Nay,  he  seems  scarce 
to  have  thought  it  lawful  to  do  otherwise.  Even  the  last 
state  of  his  martyrdom  evinces  this.  His  manner  of  endur- 
ing it  when  it  providentially  was  brought  on  him,  sufficiently 
clears  him  of  all  suspicion  of  pusillanimity.  To  unite  such 
seemingly  opposite  things  as  discretion  and  fortitude,  each  in 
a  very  high  degree,  is  a  sure  characteristic  of  greatness  in  a 
christian  ;  it  is  grace  in  its  highest  exercise. 

Behold  him  now  safe,  under  God,  from  the  arm  of  perse- 
cution, in  retirement  for  the  space  of  two  years. 

Nor  was  he  ever  more  active  than  in  his  retreat.  To  those 
who,  through  fear,  abandoned  the  faith,  he  wrote  letters, 
inciting  them  to  repentance ;  and  to  those  who  remained 
firm,  suffering  in  consequence,  he  addressed  epistles  of  en- 
couragement and  consolation. 

But  so  keenly  was  the  mind  of  Cyprian  set  on  heavenly 
things,  and  so  completely  lifted  up  above  the  world,  that  he 
ardently  exulted  and  triumphed  in  those  scenes  of  horror. 
He  describes  the  martyrs  and  confessors  as  wiping  away  the 
tears  of  the  church,  while  she  was  bewailing  the  ruins  of  her 
sons. 

Even  Christ  himself  he  describes  as  looking  down  with 
complaisancy,  fighting  and  conquering  in  his  servants,  giving 
to  believers  as  much  strength  as  the  receiver  thinks  he  can 
receive. 

In  addition  to  other  evils,  the  providence  of  God  now 
thought  fit  to  exercise  the  mind  of  Cyprian  with  a  calamity, 
one  of  the  worst  to  a  lover  of  peace  and  charity,  the  rise  of  a 
schism*  in  his  church  at  Carthage.     He  immediately  wrote 

*  This  schism  was  owing  to  one  Felicissumus  in  the  churcli  of  Carthage,  who 
bad  long  been  a  secret  enemy  of  the  bishop,  and  a  person  of  very  exceptionable 
character.     Growing  insolent,  and  taking  advantage   of  Cyprian's  absence, 


414 


CYPRIAN. 


to  them,  exhorting  them  to  unity  and  constancy  in  the  good 
cause. 

We  subjoin  the  following  passage,  as  indicative  of  his  feel- 
ing in  being  absented  from  them  at  such  a  time :  "  My  ban- 
ishment of  two  years  it  seems  was  not  sufficient,  my  mourn- 
ful separation  from  your  presence,  my  constant  grief  and 
perpetual  lamentation,  and  my  tears  flowing  day  and  night, 
because  the  pastor  whom  you  chose,  with  so  much  love  and 
zeal,  could  not  salute  or  embrace  you.  To  my  distressed 
spirit  a  still  greater  evil  is  added,  that  in  so  great  a  solicitude 
I  can  not  come  over  to  you." 

At  length,  however,  he  ventured  from  his  retreat  and  re- 
turned to  Carthage,  where  his  christian  authority  was  re- 
stored, and  the  matter  settled,  which  had  caused  him  so 
much  disquietude. 

Thus  did  it  please  God  to  make  use  of  the  vigor  and  perse- 
verance of  Cyprian  in  recovering  the  church  from  a  state  of 
most  deplorable  declension. 

Encouraged  with  the  success  of  his  pacific  labors  at  home, 
he  endeavored  to  heal  the  breaches  of  Rome.  It  is  evident 
that  union  was  as  much  on  his  heart,  for  one  place  as  another, 
because  he  considered  Christ's  body  as  one,  nor  were  his 
labors  here  unattended  with  success. 

After  a  short  interval,  the  death  of  Decius  procured  the 
appointment  of  Gallus  as  his  successor,  and  persecution  was 
renewed. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  Cyprian,  who  had  seen  and  known 
such  dreadful  devastations  under  the  former,  should  be 
tempted  to  imagine  the  approach  of  Antichrist,  the  end  of 
the  world,  and  the  day  of  judgment  to  be  at  hand.  Saga- 
cious and  holy  men  are  never  more  apt  to  be  deceived  than 
when  they  attempt  to  look  into  futurity.  God  hath  made 
the  present  so  much  the  exclusive  object  of  our  duty,  that  he 

whose  return  he  speedily  expected,  as  the  persecution  had  nearly  ceased  at 
Carthage,  set  up  in  form  an  opposition  to  the  bishop,  and  threatened  those 
who  would  not  communicate  with  him,  and  found  means  to  unite  a  considerable 
party  to  himself  This  division  caused  Cyprian  much  sorrow,  and  at  his  re- 
•luest,  FeUcissumus  and  his  abettors  were  suspended  from  communion. 


CYPRIAN. 


415 


■will  scarce  suffer  any  of  his  best  and  wisest  servants  to  gain 
any  credit,  in  conjecturing  concerning  the  times  and  the 
seasons,  which  he  hath  put  in  his  own  power.  "You  ought 
to  be  well  assured,"  said  he,  in  an  animating  letter  to  the 
people  of  Thibasis,  "  that  the  day  of  affliction  is  at  hand,  and 
that  the  end  of  the  world,  and  the  time  of  Antichrist  is  near, 
that  we  may  all  stand  prepared  for  the  battle,  and  think  only 
of  the  glory  of  eternal  life,  and  the  crown  of  christian 
confession. 

But  Cyprian  was  reserved  beyond  the  life  of  Gallus,  as 
well  as  Decius,  for  the  use  of  the  church,  and  faithfully  did 
he  continue  his  work. 

In  measures  to  promote  the  steadfastness  of  the  church, 
and  extend  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  he  was  constantly 
active. 

Tranquillity  was  restored,  and  a  peace  of  three  years  given 
to  the  church,  during  which  time  they  well  nigh  forgot  their 
days  of  trial,  and  trusted  in  their  own  strength  to  stand 
strong. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  instability  of  human  character 
conspired  to  bring  about  a  change,  and  the  former  days  of 
agitation  and  sorrow  returned. 

Cyprian,  who  had  escaped  two  persecutions,  was  now 
made  the  victim  of  the  third,  though  by  slow  degrees,  and 
attended  with  circumstances  of  comparative  lenity. 

He  was  seized  by  the  servants  of  Paternus,  the  pro-consul 
of  Carthage,  and  brought  into  his  council  chamber.  "  The 
sacred  emperors.  Valerian  and  Gallienus,"  says  Paternus, 
"  have  done  me  the  honor  to  direct  letters  to  me,  in  which 
they  have  decreed,  tHat  all  men  ought  to  adore  the  gods 
whom  the  Romans  adore,  and  on  pain  of  being  slain  with  the 
sword. 

"  I  have  heard  that  you  despise  the  worship  of  the  gods, 
whence  I  advise  you  to  consult  for  yourself,  and  honor 
them." 

"  I  am  a  christian,"  replied  the  prelate,  "  and  know  no  God 
but  the  one  true  God,  who  created  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea, 
and  things  in  them.     This  God  we  christians  serve ;  to  Hira 


416  CYPRIAN. 

we  pray  night  and  day  for  all  men;  and  even  for  tlie 
emperors." 

"  You  shall  die  the  death  of  a  malefactor,  if  you  persevere 
in  this  inclination."  "  That  is  a  good  inclination  which  fears 
God,"  answered  Cyprian,  "and  therefore  must  not  be 
changed."  *'  You  must  then,  by  the  will  of  the  princes,  be 
banished." 

"He  is  no  exile,"  it  was  replied,  "who  has  God  in  his 
heart,  for  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof." 

Paternus  said,  "Before  you  go,  tell  me  where  are  your 
presbyters,  who  are  said  to  be  in  this  city." 

With  much  presence  of  mind  Cyprian  reminded  him  of  the 
edicts  made  by  the  best  Roman  princes  against  the  practice 
of  informers :  "  They  ought  not  therefore  to  be  discovered 
by  me,  but  you  may  find  them,  and  you  yourselves  do  not 
approve  of  men  offering  themselves  voluntarily  to  you."  "  I 
will  make  you  discover  them  by  torments."  "  By  me,"  the 
intrepid  bishop  rejoined,  "they  shall  not  be  discovered." 
"  Our  princes  have  ordered  that  christians  hold  no  conventi- 
cles, and  whoever  breaks  this  rule,  shall  be  put  to  death." 
"  Do  what  you  are  ordered,"  Cyprian  calmly  replied. 

Paternus,  however,  was  not  disposed  to  hurt  the  bishop. 
Most  probable  he  respected  the  character  of  the  man,  which 
by  this  time  must  have  been  highly  esteemed,  through  a 
shining  series  of  good  works  in  Africa.  Having  made  some 
ineffectual  attempts  to  work  on  his  fears,  he  sent  him  into 
banishment  to  Curubis,  a  little  town  fifty  miles  from  Car- 
thage, situate  by  the  sea,  over  against  Sicily.  The  citizens 
treated  him  with  great  kindness,  during  his  stay  of  eleven 
months,  and  he  was  repeatedly  visited  by  christians.  Here 
he  served  his  Divine  Master  in  good  works,  and  Paternus  in 
the  interim  died. 

In  the  year  260,  Cyprian  returning  from  exile  by  per- 
mission, lived  in  a  garden  near  Carthage,  which  was  now 
providentially  restored  to  him,  though  he  had  sold  it  at  his 
first  conversion.  His  liberal  spirit  would  have  inclined  him 
once  more  to  sell  it  for  the  relief  of  the  needy,  had  he  not 
feared  to  attract  the  envy  of  the  persecutors. 


CYPRIAN".  4:17 

Here  he  regulated  the  affairs  of  the  church,  and  distributed 
what  he  had  left ;  but  while  thus  employed,  two  officers  with 
soldiers  came  to  seize  him.  They  carried  him  in  a  chariot 
between  them  to  a  place  called  Sextus,  six  miles  from  Car- 
thage, by  the  seaside,  where  the  pro-consul  lodged  indisposed. 
The  affair  was  deferred  till  the  next  day,  and  he  was  carried 
back  to  the  lodgings  of  the  chief  of  the  officers,  about  the 
distance  of  a  stadium  from  the  prejetorium.  The  news 
spread  through  Carthage;  his  celebrit}'',  on  account  of  his 
good  works,  drew  prodigious  crowds  to  the  scene,  not  only 
of  christians,  but  of  infidels,  who  revered  the  virtue  of  the 
man. 

The  chief  of  the  officers  guarded  him,  but  in  a  courteous 
manner ;  so  that  he  ate  with  his  friends,  and  had  them  about 
him  as  usual.  The  next  day  he  was  sent  for  by  the  pro- 
consul, and  went  accordingl}'-,  attended  by  crowds  of  people. 

The  pro-consul  not  yet  appearing,  he  was  ordered  to  wait 
for  him  in  a  private  place,  where  he  sat  down. 

Being  in  a  great  perspiration,  a  soldier,  who  had  been  a 
christian,  offered  him  a  change  of  clothes.  "  Shall  we,"  says 
Cyprian,  "  seek  for  a  remedy  for  that  which  may  last  no 
longer  than  to-day  ?" 

He  was  at  length  brought  into  the  judgment  hall,  where 
the  pro-consul  sat.  "Are  you  Thascius  Cyprian?"  "lam." 
"Are  you  he  whom  the  christians  call  their  bishop?"  "I 
am."  "  Our  princes  have  ordered  you  to  worship  the  gods." 
"  That  I  shall  not  do."  "  You  will  do  better  to  consult  your 
safety,  and  not  despise  the  gods."  "  My  safety  and  virtue  is 
Christ  the  Lord,  whom  I  desire  to  serve  forever."  "  I  pity 
your  case,"  says  the  pro-consul ;  "  and  could  wish  to  consult 
for  you."  "1  do  not  wish,"  says  the  prelate,  "that  things 
should  be  otherwise  with  me,  than  that  adoring  my  God,  1 
may  hasten  to  him  with  all  the  ardor  of  my  soul ;  for  the  af 
flictions  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be  compared 
with  the  glory  which  shall  be  revealed  in  us." 

The  pro-consul  now  reddening  with  anger,  says :  "  You 
haved  lived  sacrilegiously  a  long  time,  and  have  formed  into 

a  society  men  of  an  impious  conspiracy,  and  have  shown 

27 


418  CYPRIAN. 

yourself  an  enemy  to  the  gods  and  their  religion,  and  have 
not  hearkened  to  the  equitable  counsels  of  our  princes,  but 
have  ever  been  a  father  of  the  impious  sect,  and  their  ring- 
leader ;  you  shall  therefore  be  an  example  to  the  rest,  and 
they  shall  learn  their  duty  by  your  blood.  Let  Thascius 
Cyprian,  who  refuses  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods,  be  put  to  death 
by  the  sword."  "God  be  praised,"  said  the  martyr,  and 
while  they  were  leading  him  away,  a  multitude  of  the  people 
followed  and  cried,  "Let  us  die  with  our  holy  bishop." 

A  troop  of  soldiers  attended  him,  and  the  officers  marched 
on  each  side  of  him.  They  led  him  into  a  plain  surrounded 
with  trees,  and  many  climbed  up  to  the  top  of  them  to  see 
him  at  a  distance.  Cyprian  took  off  his  mantle,  and  fell  on 
his  knees,  worshiping  his  God. 

The  executioner  being  come,  he  ordered  twenty-five  golden 
denarii  to  be  given  him  ;  he  himself  bound  the  napkin  over 
his  eyes,  and  a  presbyter  and  deacon  tied  his  hands  for  him ; 
and  the  christians  laid  before  him  napkins  and  handkerchiefs 
to  receive  his  blood.  Then  his  head  was  cut  off  by  the 
sword. 

Thus,  after  an  eventful  and  instructive  period  of  about 
thirteen  years  since  his  conversion,  after  a  variety  of  toils 
and  exercises  among  friends,  and  open  foes  and  nominal 
christians,  by  a  death  more  gentle  than  commonly  fell  to  the 
lot  of  martyrs,  rested  at  length  in  Jesus,  the  magnanimous 
and  charitable  spirit  of  Cyprian  of  Carthage. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ENJOYS  THE  TUITION  OF  ORIGEN;  ARDUOUS  LABORS  IN  THE  CAUSE  OP 
CHRISTIANITY;    EVANGELICAL  CHARACTER. 

E  was  born  at  ITeocsesarea,  the  metropolis  of 
Cappadocia;  his  father,  zealous  for  paganism, 
took  care  to  educate  him  in  idolatry  and  the 
learning  of  the  Gentile  world.  He  lost  his 
father  when  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  His 
mother  took  care  to  complete  his  education,  and  that  of  his 
brother,  Athenodorus,  afterward  a  christian  bishop,  as  well 
as  himself. 

He  traveled  to  Alexandria  to  learn  the  platonic  philosophy, 
where  he  was  equally  remarkable  for  strictness  of  life  and 
close  attention  to  his  studies. 

He  afterward  put  himself  under  the  tuition  of  the  renowned 
Origen,  who  then  taught  at  Cfesarea  in  Palestine,  with  his 
brother  Athenodorus,  and  Firmilian,  a  Cappadocian  gentle- 
man, with  whom  he  contracted  an  intimate  friendship. 

With  Origen  the  two  brothers  continued  five  years,  and 
were  persuaded  by  him  to  study  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  and 
no  doubt  is  to  be  entertained,  but  that  the  most  assiduous 
pains  were  urged  by  that  zealous  teacher  to  ground  them  in 
the  belief  of  Christianity. 

On  his  departure  he  delivered  an  eloquent  speech,  in 
praise  of  Origen,  before  a  numerous  auditory,  a  testimony  at 
once  of  his  gratitude  and  powers  of  rhetoric. 

There  is  still  extant  a  letter  written  by  Origen  to  him  after 
he  had  left  him,  in  which  he  exhorts  him  to  apply  his  knowl- 
edge to  the  promotion  of  Christianity.  The  best  thing  in  it 
is,  that  he  advises  him  to  pray  fervently  for  the  illumination 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Having  returned  to  Neocsesarea,  he  gave  himself  much  to 
retirement,   and    no    doubt  was    in  secret    prepared    and 


420  GREGORY    THAUMATURGUS. 

disciplined  for  the  important  work  to  which  he  was  soon  aftei 
called.  NeocEesarea  was  large  and  populous,  but  full  of 
idolatry,  the  very  seat  of  Satan,  so  that  Christianity  scarce 
could  gain  any  entrance  into  it.  Phedimus,  bishop  of  Ama- 
sea,  a  neighboring  city,  grieved  to  see  its  situation,  and 
hoping  much  from  the  piety  and  capacity  of  young  Gregory, 
took  pains  to  engage  him  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  there. 
From  pure  modesty,  he  took  pains  to  elude  his  designs,  but 
was  at  length  prevailed  on  to  accept  the  charge. 

The  scene  was  arduous.  He  had  a  church  to  found,  before 
he  could  govern  it,  there  not  being  above  seventeen  professors 
of  Christianity  there. 

The  vision,  which  his  namesake  of  Nyssen  tells  of  his  re- 
ceiving a  creed  from  John  the  evangelist,  and  the  Virgin 
Mary,  of  course,  is  not  worthy  of  much  credit.  He  seems  to 
have  been  imposed  on  by  the  superstitious  spirit,  then  too 
prevalent.  But  as  he  assures  us  the  original,  written  with 
his  own  hand,  was  preserved  in  the  church  of  Neocsesarea  in 
his  time,  and  this  is  a  matter  of  fact  of  which  any  person 
might  judge ;  as  the  creed  itself  contains  nothing  but  what  is 
very  agreeable  to  the  language  of  the  fathers  of  the  third 
century,  and  we  have  already  seen  the  exact  pains  which 
they  took  in  guarding  sacred  doctrines  against  heresies,  it  is 
to  be  apprehended  that  it  is  really  his ;  though  when  one  has 
considered  it,  he  will  not  be  surprised  at  the  industry  with 
which  in  our  times  its  credit  has  been  impeached.  And  the 
v/hole  will  deserve  to  be  set  down  at  length,  because  the  or- 
thodoxy of  Gregory  has  been  ureasonably  called  in  question, 
against  the  express  testimony  of  Eusebius,  who,  he  represents 
as  one  of  the  opposers  of  Paul  of  Samosata,  at  the  first 
council. 

"  There  is  one  God  the  Father  of  the  living  word,  of  the 
subsisting  wisdom  and  power,  and  of  the  eternal  express 
Image ;  perfect,  the  Father  of  the  perfect,  the  Father  of  the 
only-begotten  Son. 

"  One  Lord  alone,  of  alone,  God  of  God,  the  character  and 
image  of  the  Deity,  the  energetic  Word,  the  Wisdom  com- 
prehensive of  the  s^^stem  of  the  universe,  and  the  Power 


GREGOKY   THAUMATURGUS.  421 

that  made  all  creation,  the  true  Son  of  the  true  Father,  the 
Invisible  of  the  invisible,  the  Incorruptible  of  the  incorrupt- 
ible, the  Immortal  of  the  immortal,  the  Eternal  of  the  eter- 
nal; and  one  Holy  Ghost,  having  his  subsistence  of  God, 
manifested  through  the  Son  to  men,  the  image  of  the  Son, 
the  perfect  life  of  the  perfect,  the  source  of  life,  the  holy- 
fountain,  sanctification,  and  the  supplier  of  sanctification,  in 
whom  is  manifested  God  the  Father,  who  is  above  all  and 
in  all,  and  God  the  Son,  who  is  through  all ;  a  perfect  Trin- 
it}^,  in  glory,  eternity,  and  kingdom,  not  separated,  not 
divided." 

Notwithstanding  the  prejudices  which  his  idolatrous  coun- 
trymen must  have  had  against  him,  Musonius,  a  person  of 
consequence  in  the  city,  received  him,  and  in  a  very  little 
time  his  preaching  was  attented  with  so  great  success  that  he 
had  a  numerous  congregation.  The  situation  of  Gregory,  so 
like  that  of  the  primitive  christian  preachers,  in  the  midst 
of  idolatry,  renders  it  exceedingly  probable  that  he  was,  as 
they  were,  favored  with  miraculous  gifts ;  for  these  the  Lord 
bestowed  in  abundance,  where  the  name  of  Jesus  had  as  yet 
gained  no  admission ;  and  it  is  certain  that  miracles  had  not 
ceased  in  the  church. 

Gregory  Nyssen  lived  himself  within  less  than  a  hundred 
years  after  our  Gregory ;  and  both  he  and  his  brother,  the 
famous  Basil,  speak  of  his  miracles  without  the  least  doubt. 

Their  aged  grandmother,  Macrina,  who  taught  them  in 
their  youth,  had  in  her  younger  years  been  a  hearer  of 
Gregory. 

Basil  particularly  observes  that  she  told  them  the  very 
words  which  she  had  heard  from  him,  and  assures  us  that 
the  Gentiles,  on  account  of  the  miracles  which  he  performed, 
used  to  call  him  a  second  Moses. 

The  existence  of  his  miraculous  powers,  with  reasonable 
persons,  seems  then  unquestionable. 

It  is  only  to  be  regretted  that  the  few  particular  instances 
which  have  come  down  to  us  are  not  the  best  chosen ;  but 
that  he  cured  the  sick,  healed  the  diseased,  and  expelled 
devils,  and  that  thus  God  wrought  by  him  for  the  good  of 


422  GREGORY    THAUMATURGUS. 

souls,  and  to  pave  the  way  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel, 
as  it  is  in  itself  very  credible,  so  has  it  the  testimony  of  men 
worthy  to  be  believed. 

He  continued  successfully  employed  at  his  native  place, 
till  the  persecution  of  Decius.  Swords  and  axes,  fire,  wild 
beasts,  stakes  and  engines  to  distend  the  limbs,  iron  chains 
made  red  hot,  frames  of  timber  set  up  straight,  in  which  the 
bodies  of  the  tortured  were  racked  with  nails  which  tore  off 
the  flesh.  Eelations,  in  the  most  unnatural  manner,  betrayed 
one  another ;  the  woods  were  full  of  vagabonds,  the  towns 
were  empty,  and  private  houses,  deprived  of  their  christian 
inhabitants,  became  gaols  for  the  reception  of  prisoners,  the 
public  prisons  not  sufficing  for  that  purpose. 

In  this  terrible  situation  of  things,  Gregory  considered 
that  his  new  converts  could  scarce  be  strong  enough  to  stand 
their  ground  and  be  faithful,  advised  them  to  flee,  and  to 
encourage  them  in  it,  he  set  them  the  example.  Many  of 
his  people  suffered,  but  God  restored  them  at  length  to  peace, 
and  Gregory  again  returned  to  exhilarate  their  minds  with 
his  pastoral  labors. 

In  the  reign  of  Gallienus,  the  christians  suffered  extremely 
from  the  ravages  of  barbarous  nations,  which  gave  occasion 
to  Gregory's  Canonical  Epistle,  still  extant,  in  which  rules 
of  a  wholesome,  penitential,  and  disciplinarian  nature  are 
delivered. 

The  last  service  of  his  which  is  recorded,  is  the  part  which 
he  took  in  the  first  council  concerning  Paul  of  Samosata.  He 
died  not  long  after.  A  little  before  his  death,  he  made  a 
strict  inquiry  whether  there  were  any  in  the  city  and  neigh- 
borhood still  strangers  to  Christianity. 

Being  told  there  were  about  seventeen  in  all,  he  sighed, 
and  lifting  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  appealed  to  God  how  much 
it  troubled  him  that  any  of  his  fellow  townsmen  should 
remain  unacquainted  with  salvation ;  yet  that  his  thankful- 
ness was  due  to  God,  that  when  at  first  he  had  found  only 
seventeen  christians,  he  had  left  only  seventeen  idolaters. 
Having  prayed  for  the  conversion  of  infidels,  and  the  edifi- 
cation of  the  faithful,  he  peaceably  gave  up  his  soul  to  God. 


BASIL   OF    C^SAREA. 


423 


He  was  an  evangelical  man  in  his  whole  life,  as  Basil  says. 
In  his  devotion  he  showed  the  greatest  reverence.  Zealous 
he  was  against  all  corruptions,  and  Sabellianism,  which  long 
after  in  Basil's  time  reared  up  its  head,  was,  he  tells  us, 
silenced  by  the  remembrance  of  what  he  had  taught  and  left 
among  them. 

On  the  whole,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  antiquity  has  left 
us  such  scanty  memorials  of  a  man  so  much  honored  of  God, 
so  eminently  holy,  and  little  inferior  in  utility  among  man- 
kind, to  any  from  the  apostles'  days  to  his  own  times. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SUPERIOR  ATTAINMENTS  IN  LEARNING;  EFFORTS  AS  PASTOR;  LExVTH 
HASTENED  BY  AUSTERITY. 

ASIL,  surnamed  the  great,  on  account  of  his 
learning  and  piety,  was  descended  from  chris- 
1^  tian  ancestors,  who  suffered  much  during  the 
'''^ '  Dioclesian  persecution.  His  grandmother,  Ma- 
crina,  herself  a  confessor  for  the  faith  of  Christ, 
and  a  disciple  of  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  was  eminently  use- 
ful to  him,  in  superintending  his  education,  and  fixing  his 
principles.  After  a  strict  domestic  education  in  Cappadocia, 
his  native  country,  he  traveled  for  improvement  in  knowl- 
edge, according  to  the  custom  of  those  whose  circumstances 
enabled  them  to  bear  the  expense,  and  came  to  Athens. 

Here  he  met  with  Gregory  Nazianzen,  with  whom  he  had 
a  cordial  intimacy.  At  length,  leaving  him  there,  he  came 
to  Constantinople,  and  put  himself  under  the  care  of  the 
famous  Libanius.  It  is  certain,  that  he  was  possessed  of  all 
the  secular  learning  of  the  age ;  and,  if  he  had  chosen  to  give 
himself  wholly  to  the  world,  he  might  have  shone  as  much 
as  superior  parts,  strong  understanding  and  indefatigable 
industry,  united,  can  effect. 


424  BASIL   OF  CJESAREA. 

But  his  mind  was  under  a  spiritual  influence ;  he  found  an 
emptiness  in  the  most  refined  enjoyments  of  literature;  even 
Athens  itself  he  called  a  vain  felicity. 

He  was  led  to  seek  for  food  for  his  soul,  and,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Gregory,  he  studied  the  works  of  Origen;  and 
some  monuments  of  their  veneration  for  that  learned  father 
are  still  extant. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  had  known  him,  when  they  studied 
together  at  Athens,  and  being  now  advanced  to  the  empire, 
he  invited  him  to  his  court.  But  the  fear  of  God,  and  the 
love  of  heavenly  things  which  undoubtedly  predominated  in 
the  latter,  suffered  him  not  to  give  way  to  the  temptation  for 
a  moment. 

He  wrote  with  christian  sincerity  to  the  emperor,  and  pro- 
voked him  by  his  faithful  rebukes ;  choosing  rather  to  live  in 
Ca^.sarea  a  despised  christian,  than  to  share  in  the  honors  and 
riches  of  the  court,  to  which  his  uncommon  endowments  and 
abilities  would  have  advanced  him. 

After  some  time,  he  lived  in  retirement  at  Neocsesarea,  in 
Pontus,  and,  by  his  example,  concurring  with  the  spirit  of 
the  times,  he  not  only  drew  over  his  friend  Gregory  but  also 
great  numbers  to  embrace  a  retired  life,  and  to  employ  them- 
selves in  prayer,  singing  of  psalms  and  devotional  exercises. 
And  here,  these  two  friends  formed  the  rules  of  monastic  dis- 
cipline, which  were  the  basis  of  all  those  superstitious  institu- 
tions, which  afterward  overran  the  church. 

The  want  of  a  more  evangelical  view  of  doctrine,  and  of 
course,  of  that  lively  faith  which  would  animate  and  enable 
the  christian  to  live  above  the  world,  though  in  the  midst  of 
It,  was,  doubtless,  the  principal  cause  of  the  overflowing  of 
this  spirit  among  real  good  men  in  these  times. 

To  flee  from  society  seemed  to  them  the  only  possible  way 
to  escape  the  pollutions  of  the  world  which  they  sincerely 
abhorred. 

But  he,  who  should,  in  these  times,  suspect  the  generality 
of  monks  of  profligacy  and  hypocrisy  would  injure  them 
much.  On  the  contrary,  the  flower  of  the  flock  of  Christ,  in 
these  days,  is  to  be  looked  for  among  them. 


BASIL  OF  C^SAREA.  425 

If  Basil  was  employed  in  founding  monasteries  in  the 
neighboring  parts,  be  also  caused  hospitals  to  be  erected  for 
the  poor,  and,  as  he  had  been  ordained  priest  before  he  left 
Cassarea,  he  was  useful  in  preaching  up  and  down  the  country. 
Eeturning  after  a  time  to  his  native  home,  he  distinguished 
himself  by  induciog  the  rich  to  supply  the  necessities  of  the 
poor  during  a  grievous  famine ;  and  all  the  world  gave  him 
credit  both  for  his  charity  in  relieving  the  distressed,  and  for 
his  integrity  in  resisting  the  importunities  of  Yalens,  the  Arian 
emperor. 

The  See  of  Csesarea  being  vacant,  the  authority  of  the  aged 
Gregory,  Bishop  of  Nazianzum,  the  father  of  his  friend,  was 
sincerely  exerted  for  his  promotion ;  and  to  this  See  he  was 
at  length  advanced,  notAvithstandiDg  the  opposition  of  the 
Arians.  He  was  soon  called  to  withstand  the  repeated  attacks 
of  Valens,  and  though  he  was  in  the  utmost  danger  of  being 
banished  from  his  See,  he  remained  immovable  in  the  profes- 
sion of  the  faith. 

He  found  that  the  church,  before  his  time,  had  been  scanda- 
lously neglected  in  its  discipline.  Church  officers,  who  were 
a  disgrace  to  religion,  ministered ;  and  the  country  bishops 
ordained  men  without  the  knowledge  of  the  bishop,  and 
without  any  just  examination ;  and  many  pressed  into  the 
ministry  for  secular  reasons.  It  was  reported  that  some  were 
even  guilty  of  selling  the  priesthood  for  money ;  the  crime 
usually  known  as  Simony. 

Basil  reminded  his  clergy  of  the  strictness  of  the  primitive 
discipline,  and  of  the  care  formerly  exercised  by  the  presby- 
ters and  deacons  in  examining  the  lives  and  manners  of  the 
persons  to  be  ordained ;  and  he  made  earnest  attempts  to  re- 
vive the  laudable  customs,  inveighing  against  Simony  as  most 
detestable. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  describe  the  divers  contests  in  which 
he  was  engaged.  Calumnj^,  malice  and  the  domineering 
power  of  Arianism  afflicted  him  with  various  trials,  in  which 
his  patience  was  unwearied ;  and,  as  his  body  became  enfee- 
bled by  increasing  infirmities,  his  mind  seems  to  have  collected 
more  vigor.     Finding  himself  rapidly  declining,  after  he  had 


426  BASIL  OF  C^SAREA. 

governed  tlie  cliurcli  eight  years  and  some  months,  lie  ordained 
some  of  his  followers,  and  then  was  obliged  to  take  to  his 
bed.  The  people  flocked  about  his  house,  sensible  of  the 
value  of  such  a  pastor.  He  discoursed  piously  to  those  who 
were  about  him,  for  a  time,  and  sealed  his  last  breath  with 
the  ejaculation,  "Into  thine  hands  I  commend  my  spirit." 

It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  a  man  so  sincerely  pious,  so 
profoundly  learned,  and  of  so  elegant  and  accomplished  a 
genius,  should  have  suffered  so  much,  both  in  mind  and  body, 
from  the  monastic  spirit.  But  his  excessive  austerities  broke 
his  constitution,  and  left  him  for  years  in  a  very  imperfect 
state  of  health.     He  died  in  the  year  879. 

His  doctrine  appears,  from  his  works,  to  be  too  much 
clouded  with  self-righteous  and  superstitious  mixtures  to  con- 
tribute materially  to  the  instruction  and  consolation  of  sincere 
souls,  though  it  is  evident  that  he  revered  the  influences  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  and  placed  his  hope  of  salvation  in  Christ 
Jesus. 

On  one  subject, — the  love  of  heavenly  things  in  opposition 
to  earthly, — he  excelled,  both  in  precept  and  example. 

In  this  the  power  of  grace  appeared  in  the  man  through 
life ;  and  even  the  whole  system  of  his  errors  in  Divinity 
was  connected  with  it.  The  very  principle  of  the  Ascetic 
life  was  to  him  a  supreme  desire  to  live  above  the  world. 

Truly,  he  was  a  man  of  piety,  and  he  has  gained  his  appro 
priate  reward. 


CHAPTER    Al. 

RELUCTANCE  TO  ACCEPT  THE  OFFICE  OF  BISHOF;   PERSECUTION  BY  JUSTINA; 
ARDUOUS  LABORS  IN  HIS  CALLING;    EARLY  DEATH. 

MBROSE  succeeded  Arian  Auxentius  at  Milan, 
wlio  died  in  the  year  374,  He  was  born  about 
tlie  year  333,  while  his  father  was  the  emperor's 
lieutenant  in  France.  He  was  the  youngest  of 
three  children,  Marcellina  and  Satyrus  being 
born  before  him.  After  his  father's  decease,  his  mother  with 
the  family  returned  to  Eome,  where  he  made  himself  master 
of  all  the  learning  that  Greece  and  Latiura  could  afford ;  at 
the  same  time  his  sister  instructed  him  with  much  success  in 
the  principles  of  godliness. 

Being  grown  to  maturity,  he  pleaded  causes  with  so  much 
dexterity,  that  he  was  soon  taken  notice  of  by  Anicius  Pro- 
bus,  prjBtorian  prefect  of  Italy,  who  made  choice  of  him  to 
be  of  his  council ;  and  having  authority  to  appoint  governors 
to  several  provinces,  when  he  gave  a  commission  to  him,  he 
said,  "  Go  and  govern  more  like  a  bishop  than  a  judge."  He 
resided  in  this  ofl&ce  at  Milan  for  five  years,  and  was  re- 
nowned for  prudence  and  justice,  when  one  of  those  sudden 
turns  of  Providence,  which  are  so  conspicuous  in  the  lives 
of  many  persons  of  eminent  godliness,  threw  him  into  a 
course  of  life  extremely  different  from  the  former. 

Auxentius,  by  artifice  and  dexterity,  had  imposed  on 
Valentinian,  and  preserved  his  seat  till  his  death  in  the  year 
374.  Immediately  the  bishops  of  the  province  met  together 
concerning  the  election  of  a  successor. 

The  emperor  sent  for  them,  and  told  them  that  they,  as 
men  best  acquainted  with  the  sacred  volume,  ought  to  under- 
stand better  than  he  the  qualifications  necessary  for  so  im- 
portant a  station. 


428  AMBROSE. 

"  Choose  a  man,"  said  he,  "fit  to  instruct  by  life,  as  -vyell  as 
bj  doctrine,  and  we  ourselves  will  readily  submit  our  scep- 
tres to  his  counsels  and  direction,  and  as  men  obnoxious  to 
human  frailty,  will  receive  his  reproofs  and  admonitions  as 
wholesome  physic."  The  bishops  besought  him  to  nominate 
the  person,  but  Yalentinian  was  resolute  in  referring  the 
determination  to  them,  as  fitter  than  himself  to  decide. 

In  the  mean  time  factions  were  strong,  and  the  Arian 
party  vigorously  labored  to  provide  a  successor  worthy  of 
Auxentius.  The  city  was  divided,  every  thing  tended 
toward  a  tumult,  the  bishops  were  consulting,  and  Ambrose 
hearing  of  these  things,  hastened  to  the  church  of  Milan, 
and  exhorted  the  people  to  peace  and  submission  to  the  laws. 
His  speech  being  finished,  an  infant's  voice  was  heard  in  the 
crowd,  "Ambrose  is  bishoo.'' 

The  hint  was  takc-sr.  at  once ;  the  whole  assembly  cried 
out,  "Ambrose  H^rji  be  the  man."  The  factions  agreed 
immediately,  and  lie  whom  secular  pursuits  had  seemed  to 
preclude  from  the  notice  of  either  party,  was  suddenly 
elected  by  universal  consent. 

Ambrose  was  astonished,  and  peremptorily  refused ;  nor 
was  any  person  ever  more  desirous  to  obtain  the  office  of 
bishop,  than  he  was  to  avoid  it. 

He  even  used  methods  which  sound  strange  in  our  ears, 
and  are  by  no  means  justifiable.  By  exercising  severity  on 
malefactors,  and  other  unjust  measures,  he  took  pains  to  con- 
vince them  that  he  was  not  that  character  of  mildness  and 
chastity  which  he  undoubtedly  was,  and  which  all  believed 
him  to  be. 

The  uncommon  hypocrisy  was,  however,  easily  detected. 
Finding  that  it  was  in  vain  to  stem  the  torrent,  he  stole  out 
of  Milan  at  midnight,  but  missing  his  way,  and  wandering 
all  night,  he  found  himself  in  the  morning  at  the  gate  of 
Milan. 

A  guard  was  placed  about  his  person,  till  the  emperor's 
pleasure  should  be  known ;  because  his  consent  was  neces- 
sary to  part  with  a  subject  in  ofiice. 

Valentinian  sincerely   consented;    and    the    consent  of 


AMBROSE.  429 

Ambrose  himself  alone  was  wanting.  He  again  made  his 
escape,  and  hid  himself  in  the  country  house  of  a  friend.  A 
menacing  edict  of  the  emperor  brought  him  again  to  Milan, 
because  he  dared  not  expose  his  friend  to  the  resentment  of 
the  emperor.  He  yielded  at  length,  and  Valentinian  gave 
thanks  to  God,  that  it  had  pleased  him  to  make  choice  of  the 
very  person  to  take  care  of  men's  souls,  whom  he  had  him- 
self before  appointed  to  preside  over  their  temporal  concerns. 

He  received  his  general  admonitions  with  reverence ;  and 
in  particular,  hearing  him  represent  the  faults  of  some  in 
authority  with  great  plainness,  "  I  knew,"  said  the  emperor, 
"  the  honesty  of  your  character  before  this  time,  yet  I  con- 
sented to  3^our  ordination ;  follow  the  Divine  rules,  and  cure 
the  maladies  into  which  we  are  prone  to  fall." 

Ambrose  was  then  about  thirty-four  years  old. 

Immediately  he  gave  to  the  church  and  to  the  poor  all  the 
gold  and  silver  which  he  had.  He  gave  also  his  lands  to  the 
church,  reserving  the  annual  income  of  them  for  the  use  of 
his  sister,  Marcellina.  His  family  he  committed  to  the  care 
of  his  brother,  Satyrus. 

Thus  disengaged  from  temporal  concerns,  he  gave  up  him- 
self wholly  to  the  ministry.  Having  read,  little  else  than 
profane  authors,  he  first  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures.  Whatever  time  he  could  spare  from  business,  he 
devoted  to  reading ;  and  this  he  continued  to  do  after  he  had 
attained  a  good  degree  of  knowledge.  His  public  labors 
went  hand  in  hand,  with  his  studies.  He  preached  every 
Lord's  day.  Arianism,  through  his  labors,  was  expelled 
from  Italy. 

There  was  a  presbyter  of  Eome,  one  Simplician,  a  man 
of  eminent  learning  and  piety,  whom  he  drew  over  to  Milan, 
and  under  whose  tuition  he  improved  in  theology.  From 
him,  as  an  instrument,  it  pleased  God  successively  to  convey 
both  to  Ambrose  and  Augustine  that  fire  of  Divine  love  and 
genuine  simplicity  in  religion,  which  had  very  much  decayed 
since  the  days  of  Cyprian ;  and  in  this  slow,  but  effectual 
method,  the  Lord  was  preparing  the  way  for  another  great 
effusion  of  his  Spirit.     Ambrose  now  gave  himself  wholly 


430  AMBROSE. 

to  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  restored  purity  of  doctrine  and 
discipline. 

His  labors  were  intense,  made  still  more  arduous  by  the 
interference  of  enemies. 

In  the  instruction  of  catechumens  he  employed  so  much 
pains,  that  five  bishops  could  scarcely  go  through  as  much 
labor  as  he  alone.  At  Sirmium,  in  Illyricum,  the  Arian 
bishop  Photimus  had  caused  a  wide  departure  from  the  faith ; 
and  there  being  a  vacancy  in  the  year  879,  Ambrose  was 
sent  for  to  attend  the  election  of  a  new  bishop. 

The  empress  Justina,  mother  of  young  Valentinian,  resi- 
ded there  at  that  time.  She  had  conceived  a  predilection  for 
Arianism,  and  endeavored  by  her  authority  and  influence  to 
expel  Ambrose  from  the  church.  He  continued,  however, 
in  his  tribunal,  though  insulted  and  harassed  by  the  mob. 

After  the  death  of  her  husband,  she  began  openly  to  sea- 
son her  son  with  her  doctrine,  and  to  induce  him  to  menace 
the  bishop  of  Milan. 

Ambrose  exhorted  him  to  support  the  doctrine  received 
from  the  apostles.  Young  Valentinian,  in  a  rage,  ordered 
his  guards  to  surround  the  church,  and  commanded  Ambrose 
to  come  out  of  it.  "  I  shall  not  willingly,  replied  the  bishop, 
"give  up  the  sheep  of  Christ  to  be  devoured  by  wolves. 
You  may  use  your  swords  and  spears  against  me ;  such  a 
death  I  shall  freely  undergo." 

After  this  he  was  exposed  to  the  various  frauds  and  artifi- 
ces of  Justina,  who  feared  to  attack  him  openly.  For  the 
people  were  generally  inclined  to  support  the  bishop,  and  his 
residence  in  the  city,  where  the  court  was  held,  at  once 
increased  his  influence,  and  exercised  his  mind  with  a  series 
of  trials. 

Auxentius,  a  Scythian,  of  the  same  name  with  the  Arian 
predecessor  of  Ambrose,  was  now  introduced,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  empress,  into  Milan.  He  challenged  Ambrose 
to  hold  a  disputation  with  him  in  the  emperor's  court ;  which 
occasioned  the  bishop  to  write  to  Valentinian,  that  it  was  no 
part  of  the  emperor's  business  to  decide  in  points  of  doctrine. 
"  Let  him  come  to  church,"  says  he,  "  and,  upon  hearing,  let 


AMBROSE.  431 

the  people  judge  for  themselves ;  and  if  they  like  Auxentius 
better,  let  them  take  him ;  but  they  have  already  declared 
their  sentiments." 

More  violent  measures  were  now  entered  into,  and  the  for- 
titude of  Ambrose  was  tried  in  a  manner  which  he  hitherto 
had  not  experienced.  Auxentius  moved,  that  a  party  of  sol- 
diers might  be  sent  to  secure  for  himself  the  possession  of  the 
church  called  Basilica;  and  tribunes  came  to  demand  it, 
with  the  plate  and  vessels  belonging  to  it.  At  the  same 
time,  there  were  those  who  represented,  that  it  was  an  un- 
reasonable thing,  that  the  emperor  should  not  be  allowed  to 
have  one  place  of  worship  which  was  agreeable  to  his 
conscience. 

The  language  was  specious,  but  deceitful. 

Justina  and  her  son,  if  they  had  thought  it  prudent  to  ex- 
ert their  authority,  might  have  commanded  the  use,  not  of 
one  only,  but  of  all  the  churches;  but  the  demand  of  the 
court  was,  that  Ambrose  should  do  what  in  conscience  he 
could  not;  that  he  should,  by  his  own  deed,  resign  the 
church  into  Arian  hands,  which,  as  circumstances  then  stood, 
would  have  beeji  to  acknowledge,  indirectly  at  least,  the 
Arian  creed. 

He  therefore  calmly  answered  the  officers,  that  if  the  em- 
peror had  sent  to  demand  his  house  or  land,  money  or  goods, 
he  would  have  freely  resigned  them,  but  that  he  could  not 
deliver  that  which  was  committed  to  his  care. 

It  appears,  that  he  abated  nothing  of  the  maxims  of  passive 
submission  to  the  civil  power,  which  christians  had  ever 
practiced  from  the  days  of  Paul,  and  that  there  is  not  the 
least  ground  to  accuse  Ambrose  of  disloyalty  to  his  prince. 
He  had  already  served  him  faithfully,  and  was  ready  again 
to  expose  himself  to  danger  for  his  service. 

The  court  knew  his  principles,  and  seem  not  to  have  had 
the  least  fear  that  he  would  draw  the  people  into  a  rebellion , 
but  they  wished  to  menace  him  into  a  degree  of  compliance 
with  Arianism. 

During  the  suspension  of  this  affair,  he  employed  the 
people  in  singing  Divine  hymns  and  psalms,  at  the  end  of 


432  AMBROSE. 

wliich  tliere  was  a  solemn  doxology  to  the  honor  of  the 
Trinity.  The  method  of  responsive  singing  had  been  gener- 
ally practiced  in  the  east,  and  was  introduced  by  Ambrose 
into  Milan,  whence  it  was  propagated  into  all  the  churches. 
The  people  were  much  delighted,  their  zeal  for  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  was  much  inflamed,  and  one  of  the  best  judges 
in  the  world,  who  then  lived  at  Milan,  owns  that  his  own 
soul  was  melted  into  Divine  affection  on  these  occasions. 

The  demands  of  the  court  were  now  increased ;  not  only 
the  Portian  church  which  stood  without  the  walls,  but  also 
the  great  church  newly  built  within  the  city,  were  required 
to  be  given  up.  On  the  Lord's  day  after  sermon,  the  cate- 
chumens being  dismissed,  Ambrose  went  to  baptize  those 
who  were  prepared  for  that  ordinance,  when  he  was  told  that 
oflS.cers  were  sent  from  the  court  to  the  Portian  church ;  he 
went  on,  however,  unmoved  in  the  service,  till  he  was  told, 
that  the  people,  having  met  with  Castulus,  an  Arian  presbyter, 
in  the  street,  had  lain  hands  on  him. 

Then  with  prayers  and  tears  he  besought'  God,  that  no 
man's  blood  might  be  shed,  but  rather  his  own,  not  only  for 
the  pious  people,  but  also  for  the  wicked.  And  he  immedi- 
ately sent  some  presbyters  and  deacons,  who  recovered  Cas- 
tulus safe  from  the  tumult.  The  court  enraged  sent  out  war- 
rants for  apprehending  several  merchants  and  tradesmen,  till 
the  prisons  became  full;  and  the  magistrates  and  men  of 
rank  were  severely  threatened;  while  the  courtiers  urged 
Ambrose  with  the  imperial  authority,  whom  he  answered 
with  the  same  loyalty  and  firmness  as  before. 

"The  Holy  Spirit,"  said  he,  in  his  exhortations  to  the 
people,  "  has  spoken  in  you  this  day,  to  this  effect :  '■Emperor, 
we  entreat,  hut  we  do  not  fight!'  " 

A  notary  coming  to  the  bishop  from  the  emperor,  asked 
him,  whether  he  intended  to  usurp  the  empire.  "  I  have  an 
empire,"  said  he,  "  it  is  true,  but  it  lies  in  weakness,  accord- 
ing to  the  saying  of  the  apostle,  '  When  I  am  weak,  then  I 
am  strong.' " 

Wearied  and  overcome  at  length  with  his  resolution,  the 
court,  who  meant  to  extort  his  consent,  rather  than  to  exercise 


AMBROSE.  433 

violence,  ordered  tlie  guards  to  leave  the  church,  where  the 
bishop  had  lodged  all  night ;  the  soldiers  having  guarded  it 
so  close,  that  none  had  been  suffered  to  go  out;  and  the 
people  confined  there  having  spent  their  time  in  sing- 
ing psalms.  Peace  was  made  for  the  present,  though  Am- 
brose had  still  reason  to  fear  for  himself,  and  expressed  his 
desire,  in  the  epistle  which  he  Avrote  to  his  sister  Marcellina, 
that  God  would  defend  his  church,  and  let  its  enemies  rather 
satiate  their  rage  with  his  blood. 

He  continued  indefatigable  both  in  praying  and  preaching, 
and  closed  his  earthly  career  about  the  year  397,  admired, 
regretted,  and  lamented  by  the  whole  christian  world.  His 
life  not  improbably  had  been  shortened  by  the  incessant  ac- 
tivity of  his  mind,  and  by  the  multiplicity  of  his  employ- 
ments ;  for  he  was  only  fifty-seven  years  old,  and  had  been 
appointed  bishop  of  Milan  at  the  age  of  thirty -four. 

His  spirit  was  remarkably  kind  and  sympathetic ;  his  be- 
nevolence was  extended  to  all,  but  especially  those  of  the 
household  of  faith. 

His  temper  was  heroic  and  strong,  and  no  dignity  or  au 
thority  could  shelter  offenders  from  his  rebukes,  where  he 
deemed  it  his  duty  to  reprehend. 

Augustine  tells  us,  that  he  found  it,  in  a  manner  impossi- 
ble to  have  access  to  him,  because  of  the  multiplicity  of  his 
employments.  The  time  he  could  spare  from  pastoral  and 
charitable  engagements,  was  devoted  to  study  and  meditation. 

His  moral  writings  contain  various  things  of  solid  utility , 
his  treatise  on  Offices  shines  among  these.  It  was  evidently 
his  wish  to  imitate  Tully,  and  to  show  the  superiority  of 
christian  over  philosophical  morals. 

A  noble  design,  but  considered  as  a  whole,  feebly  executed, 
because  conducted  without  a  plan.  He  modestly  owns,  indeed, 
that  he  was  called  to  teach,  before  he  himself  had  learned. 

He  wrote  much  on  doctrinal  points,  and  gave  expositions 
of  Scripture,  liable,  however,  to  great  exceptions  in  point  of 
accuracy,  perspicuity,  and  order. 

Yet  is  he  true  to  the  fundamentals  of  Divine  truth,  and 

the  rich  unction  of  godliness  will  at  all  times  afford  to  the 

28 


•434  GKEGOKY  NAZIANZEN. 

reader,  that  edification  wliicli  is  in  vain  to  be  expected  from 
cold,  but  more  faultless  comments. 

The  palm  of  heavenlj-mindedness,  in  which  the  primitive 
christians  so  much  excelled,  was  still  in  the  possession  of 
many  in  the  fourth  century.  A  chapter  of  Ambrose,  on  the 
benefit  of  death,  is  remarkable  in  this  light. 

As  a  fit  conclusion,  we  subjoin  a  brief  extract : 

"  We  shall  go  to  those  who  sit  down  in  the  kingdom  of 
God  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  because,  being  asked 
to  the  supper,  they  made  no  excuse.  We  shall  go  where 
there  is  a  paradise  of  pleasure,  where  the  wretched  being, 
who  fell  among  thieves,  no  longer  weeps  over  his  wounds, 
where  the  thief  himself  rejoices  in  the  participation  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  where  there  shall  be  no  more  storms  or 
vicissitudes,  but  the  glory  of  God  alone  shall  shine.  We 
shall  go  where  Jesus  hath  prepared  mansions  for  his  servants, 
that  where  he  is,  there  we  may  be  also. 

"There  thy  saints  are  freed  from  errors  and  anxieties, 
from  folly  and  ignorance,  fear  and  terror,  from  all  lusts  and 
carnal  affections.  Let  us  seek  him,  and  embrace  his  feet,  and 
worship  him,  that  he  may  say  to  us,  'Fear  not;  I  am  the 
remission  of  sins.  I  am  the  light  and  the  life ;  he  that  Com- 
eth to  me  shall  not  see  death,' — because  he  is  the  fullness  of 
divinity." 


CHAPTER    XII. 

EMBRACES  CHRISTIANITY;   ASSISTS  HIS  FATHER  IN  PASTORAL  DUTIES; 
HIS  WORKS. 

E  was  born  at  Arianzum,  an  obscure  village 
belonging  to  Nazanzium  in  Cappadocia,  and 
came  into  the  world  about  the  time  of  the 
Nicene  council. 

His  father,  of  the  same  name,  a  person  of 
rank,  had  been  brought  up  among  a  particular  sect,  most 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN.  435 

resembling  the  Samaritans,  who  professed  a  mixture  of  Juda- 
ism and  Paganism.  To  this  opinion,  as  it  had  been  the  reli- 
gion of  his  family,  he  was  in  early  life  extremely  devoted. 

But  marrying  a  lady  of  rank,  and  of  sincere  christian 
piet}^,  he  was  gradually  induced  to  attend  to  the  doctrines  of 
the  gospel.  Her  prayers  and  persuasions  were  equally  ardent. 
Gregory,  dreaming  one  night  that  he  sang  that  passage,  "I 
was  glad  when  they  said  unto  me,  let  us  go  into  the  house 
of  the  Lord,"  and  feeling  an  uncommon  pleasure  on  the 
occasion,  informed  his  wife  of  the  circumstance,  who  ex- 
horted him  to  comply  with  the  call  of  God  to  his  soul. 

Soon  after,  Leontius,  bishop  of  Caesarea,  coming  to  the 
place,  in  his  way  to  the  council  of  Nice,  Gregory  was  en- 
couraged and  assisted  by  him,  and  then  received  from  the 
bishop  of  Nazianzura  catechetical  instruction,  and  the  ordi- 
nance of  baptism. 

Nazianzum  itself  had  but  newly  received  Christianity. 
The  bishop  who  baptized  Gregory  was  the  first  of  its  pas- 
tors, and  died  soon  after.  A  long  vacancy  took  place,  and 
the  town  was  overrun  with  ignorance  and  vice.  Gregory  at 
length  was  appointed  to  the  See,  which  he  filled  for  forty- 
five  years  with  great  success  among  the  people. 

His  acquaintance  with  Basil,  at  Athens,  has  been  men- 
tioned. Here,  also,  he  conversed  with  Julian  the  Apostate, 
and  with  that  intuitive  penetration  into  character,  which 
seems  a  peculiar  gift  of  some  minds,  he  foretold  what  a  curse 
he  would  one  day  prove.  There  seemed  nothing  at  the  time 
to  justify  his  suspicions,  but  his  penetrating  eye  discerned 
the  embrj^o  of  the  apostate,  and  of  the  scorner,  in  his  bold 
and  fearless  spirit  of  disputation,  and  his  presumptuous 
curiosity. 

"  See,"  said  he,  "  what  a  pest  the  Eoman  emjjire  nourishes 
within  itself,"  referring  to  Julian. 

After  his  baptism,  Gregory  felt  himself  strongly  inclined 
to  the  ascetic  life,  but  was,  though  reluctant,  made  a  presby- 
ter by  his  father.  The  old  man,  better  versed  in  prayer 
than  disputation,  was  once  imposed  on  by  Arian  subtleties 
to  communicate  with  that  sect,  while  he  took  them  to  be 


486  GREGORY   NAZIANZEN. 

what  they  were  not,  but  was  recovered  from  the  snare  by  the 
arguments  of  his  more  learned  son.  The  latter,  after  giving 
way  for  a  time  to  the  monastic  spirit  of  solitude,  was  pre- 
vailed on  at  length  to  return  to  Nazianzum,  and  to  employ 
himself  more  worthy  of  a  christian,  by  assisting  his  aged 
father  in  his  pastoral  cares. 

His  friend  Basil  offering  him  the  bishopric  of  Sasima,  in 
his  diocese  of  Ctesarea,  and  the  place  being  very  mean  and 
obscure,  the  pride  of  Gregory  was  hurt,  and  for  some  time  a 
coolness  subsisted  between  the  two  friends,  both  of  whom 
appear  not  to  have  possessed,  in  any  great  degree,  the  hum- 
ble simplicity  of  better  times.  And  their  fondness  for  Pla- 
tonism,  and  their  accurate  acquaintance  with  secular  learning, 
had  doubtless  no  tendency  to  supply  the  defects  of  their 
christian  views  of  doctrine. 

Gregory,  rejecting  the  offer,  continued  to  assist  his  father, 
and  had  then  an  opportunity  of  enforcing  a  christian  duty, 
constantly  allowed  to  be  such  in  the  primitive  times,  namely, 
submission  to  the  higher  powers,  as  well  as  to  give  the  most 
excellent  advice  to  the  governor  of  the  place — to  use  his 
power  with  moderation. 

Some  civil  tumults  and  broils  at  that  place  famished  him 
with  this  occasion. 

His  father,  dying  near  a  hundred  years  old,  and  his  mother 
soon  after,  both  of  them  persons  of  uncommon  piety,  Greg- 
ory was  induced  to  go  to  Constantinople. 

Here,  under  the  emperor  Valens,  Arianism  was  at  its  height, 
and  he  preached  to  a  few  christians  in  a  sort  of  conventicle ; 
but  growing  popular  and  successful,  he  was  at  last  appointed 
bishop ;  and  at  length,  under  Thedosius,  he  was  confirmed  in 
the  charge. 

It  proved,  however,  extremely  uneasy  to  him,  notwithstand- 
ing the  kindness  of  the  emperor.  His  liberality  and  integrity 
were  indeed  admirable ;  and  his  private  life  and  manners  were 
most  exemplary.  But  the  weakness  of  his  body,  the  irrita- 
bility of  his  temper,  and  his  extreme  deficiency  in  talents  for 
government,  rendered  him,  notwithstanding  the  just  renown 
of  his  incomparable  orator}^,  unfit  for  so  public  a  station. 


GREGORY    NAZIANZEN.  437 

The  gospel  was,  however,  adorned  by  his  virtues,  and  par- 
ticularly by  the  meekness  with  which  he  forgave  a  person 
who  had  been  suborned  to  murder  him,  and  who,  having 
been  baffled  in  his  purpose  by  Providence,  came  to  him  in  an 
agony  of  conscience,  and  confessed  his  intentions. 

While  he  was  at  Constantinople,  the  famous  council  was 
held  there  for  the  settlement  of  the  peace  of  the  church,  dur- 
ing the  course  of  which,  Gregory,  a  man  of  tried  honesty, 
but  void  of  political  refinement,  found  himself  so  much  op- 
posed by  those  who  envied  him,  and  his  best  designs  so  much 
misconstrued,  that  he  entreated  Thedosius  to  accept  his  resig- 
nation. His  farewell  sermon,  in  which  he  reminded  his  audi- 
ence what  God  had  done  by  him  from  his  first  preaching 
among  them,  when  he  was  attacked  with  stones  by  the  Arians, 
being  a  master-piece  of  eloquence,  moved  the  passions  of  the 
people  exceedingly. 

A  second  synod  being  held  at  Constantinople,  being  dis- 
gusted with  the  treatment  he  had  met  with  in  the  first,  and 
being  also  afflicted  with  a  very  infirm  state  of  health,  he  re- 
fused to  come,  and  expressed  himself  with  unbecoming  acri- 
mony against  councils  in  general. 

However,  he  exerted  himself  sincerely  to  promote  unity  in 
the  church,  and  was  unbounded  in  his  liberality  to  the  poor. 
In  his  time,  he  was  looked  upon  as  an  admirable  theologian. 
And,  indeed,  in  justness  of  taste,  eloquence  and  secular  learn- 
ing, he  was  inferior  to  few ;  and  these  shining  qualities,  in  an 
age  more  contentious  than  simple  with  respect  to  religion, 
procured  him  an  admiration  for  christian  knowledge  above 
his  deserts.     He  died  in  the  year  389,  in  his  own  country. 

His  principal  writings  are  his  sermons.  The  first  of  them 
describes  the  difficulties  and  importance  of  the  pastoral  office, 
blames  the  forwardness  of  many  to  undertake  it,  and  describes 
himself  confounded  under  a  sense  of  his  insufficiency.  In 
two  other  discourses,  he  inveighs  against  Julian  in  a  manner 
that  discovers  more  of  the  orator  than  the  christian. 

In  another  he  endeavors  to  reconcile  the  minds  of  the 
people  of  Nazianzum  to  the  payment  of  taxes.  He  observes 
that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  at  a  time  when  a  tax 


438  AUGUSTINE. 

was  levied,  to  shew  that  God  is  present  at  such  scenes,  that 
he  was  made  man,  and  did  himself  pay  taxes,  to  comfort 
those  who  were  in  bondage,  and  to  teach  them  to  bear  it 
patiently. 

He  has  some  poems  that  demonstrate  a  rich  vein  of  genius, 
and  a  sensibility  of  mind.  Nor  is  there  wanting  a  true  spirit 
of  piety.  He  gives  excellent  reflections  on  the  falsehood  of 
mere  human  virtue,  the  necessity  of  Divine  Grace  through 
Jesus  Christ,  and  of  an  humble  confidence  in  it,  and  the 
danger  of  perishing  through  pride  and  vain  glory.  Humility, 
— prime  christian  grace, — that  which  so  much  adorns  the 
character,  was  evidently  at  the  foundation  of  Gregory's 
religion. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

AUGUSTINE  CONSPICUOUS  IN  THE  LIST  OF  PRIMITIVE  FATHERS;  HIS  BIRTH- 
PLACE; HIS  MOTHER'S  SALUTARY  INFLUENCE  OVER  HIM; 
EMBRACES  THE  TRUE  FAITH,  AND  SPENDS 
HIS  LATTER  DATS  ON  THEOLOGY. 

EOMINENT  in  the  noble  list  of  primitive  fathers 
stands  the  name  of  Augustine ;  one  who,  for  depth 
of  thought,  of  feeling  and  speculation,  is  entitled 
to  distinguished  rank  among  the  ancient  worthies 
who  went  through  life  with  the  holy  principle  of 
self-denial  written  upon  the  actions  of  their  lives ;  gne  who, 
by  his  numerous  contributions  to  theology,  has  bequeathed  to 
posterity  a  rich  legacy  of  thought ;  exciting  the  interest  and 
admiration  of  every  one  who  loves  the  cause  of  truth  and  the 
welfare  of  the  church. 

Thus,  all  unconsciously,  as  it  were,  he  has  stamped,  in  im- 
mortal characters,  his  own  fame  on  the  pages  of  the  world's 
history,  there  to  remain  unsullied  by  the  defacing  "finger  of 
Time,"  while  coming  ages  revere  and  admire  the  power  of 


AUGUSTINE.  439 

that  genius,  and  glory  of  that  grace,  wLicli  made  him  what 
he  was ;  and,  as  they  enjoy  the  full  appropriation  of  that 
light,  which  he  labored  so  indefatigably  to  secure,  it  should 
be  coupled  with  that  practical  knowledge  of  heavenly  wisdom 
he  so  highly  extols. 

He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Tagaste,  in  Africa,  where  the 
early  years  of  his  life  seem  to  have  been  spent.  In  a  work 
of  his,  styled  his  "Confessions,"  he  gives  us  an  account  of 
himself;  and  not  only  relates  the  external  adventitious  cir- 
cumstances of  his  personal  historj^,  but  also  introduces  us  to 
that  inner  world  of  thought  and  feeling,  motive  and  action, 
which  lies  too  deep  within  for  the  casual  glance  of  man  to 
penetrate.  We  decline  attention  to  his  doctrinal  discussions, 
his  theories  and  opinions,  which  have  drawn  the  attention  of 
theologians,  as  amplification  in  these  matters  would  better  be- 
fit large  volumes  than  our  present  brief  sketch.  We  choose 
rather  to  follow  the  narration  of  his  own  pen,  and  to  be 
guided  by  the  revelations  which  he  has  himself  made  of 
his  character,  discipline  and  aim  in  the  work  of  life.  He 
seems  to  have  been  gifted  by  nature  with  uncommon  intel- 
lectual abihty,  and  keen  powers  of  perception,  that  enabled 
him  to  make,  without  the  aid  of  teacher,  the  distinction  be- 
tween truth  and  error,  that  came  before  him  in  his  unceasing 
study.  The  history,  however,  of  his  early  years,  his  infancy 
and  childhood,  discover  to  us  a  heart  with  the  same  propensity 
as  others  toward  evil  ways  and  evil  inclinations.  His  thought- 
lessness, his  attempts  at  deception,  his  idleness  and  willfiliness 
at  school ;  or,  if  engaged,  his  love  for  senseless,  unmeaning 
fables,  in  preference  to  more  useful  studies,  he  graphically 
describes,  and  deeply  deplores  as  he  looks  upon  it  at  a  higher 
stand-point  in  the  scale  of  existence.  But  here  he  was  effectu- 
ally encircled  by  those  holy  influences  which  flow  from  a  pious 
mother's  counsel  and  example ;  a  circumstance  he  afterward 
acknowledged  as  a  salutary  and  powerful  restraint  to  his  im- 
petuous spirit,  and  drew  from  him  many  expressions  of  his 
deep  indebtedness  to  his  valued  parent,  as  well  as  grateful 
recognition  of  that  higher  relation  of  Divine  Providence, 
through  which  all  the  events  of  his  life  were  ordered. 


440  AUGUSTINE. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  was  launching  out  further 
into  the  tempestuous  society  of  human  life,  we  find  him, 
according  to  his  own  declaration,  like  one  "  deafened  with  the 
noise  of  the  chain  of  mortality,  the  punishment  of  the  pride 
of  his  soul,  tossed  hither  and  thither,"  going  further  from  rest, 
and  reaping  a  bitter  harvest  of  sorrow  from  those  seeds  which 
he  himself  had  planted. 

For  a  season,  at  this  time,  he  remained  idle  at  home ;  and, 
while  his  heaven-born  powers  were  suffered  to  lie  in  inactivity, 
the  briars  of  lust  grew  over  his  mind  with  such  fearful  strength, 
that  sedulous  care  of  after  years  was  requisite  to  root  them  out. 

At  length  he  turned  his  attention  toward  eloquence^  and 
ambitiously  sought  to  excel  in  those  studies  whereby  it  might 
best  be  prompted,  yet  with  no  higher  motive  than  the  pleas- 
ures of  human  vanity ;  the  desire  of  eliciting  the  applause  of 
men. 

He  became  a  head  scholar  in  the  school  of  rhetoric,  and 
there  met  Cicero's  Hortensius,  with  its  exhortation  to  philoso- 
phy ;  the  reading  of  which  modified  his  ambitious  views,  and 
quite  altered  the  tone  of  his  inclinations.  'All  my  vaia 
hopes,"  said  he,  "  immediately  appeared  contemptible ;  and  I 
longed  after  the  immortality  of  wisdom  with  an  incredible 
ardor  of  heart." 

"  It  excited  and  inflamed  me,  not  after  this  or  that  sect, 
but  to  love,  seek,  and  pursue,  and  lay  hold  on  and  embrace 
wisdom  itself,  whatever  it  was.  And  in  this  so  great  ardor, 
one  ^ing  only  displeased  me — that  I  found  there  the  name 
of  Christ."  So  deep  was  the  impression  this  name  had  made 
upon  his  mind,  through  the  early  instructions  of  his  mother, 
that  whatsoever  wanted  it,  however  polite  or  learned  it  might 
be,  it  did  not  harmonize  with  his  feelings,  or  suit  his  ideas. 

From  this  he  proposed  to  turn  to  the  pages  of  inspiration, 
that  he  might,  if  possible,  gain  from  the  holy  precepts  of 
Divine  revelation,  that  for  which  he  sought ;  but  the  pride 
of  his  heart  was  not  sufficiently  subdued  for  the  reception  of 
the  pure  and  simple  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  "  Behold,"  said 
he,  "I  met  with  a  thing  not  understood  by  the  proud,  nor 
laid  open  to  children ;  but  low  in  its  appearance,  high  in  'ts 


AUGUSTINE.  441 

sense,  and  veiled  with  mysteries ;  nor  was  I  sueh  as  could 
enter  into,  or  bend  down  mj  neck  to  its  humble  pace.  For 
I  had  not  those  thoughts  then,  which  I  express  now.  when  I 
first  looked  upon  that  sacred  book ;  but  to  me  it  then  seemed 
unworthy  to  be  compared  to  Tulhjs  writings.  For'the  swel- 
hng  of  my  pride  could  not  bear  its  humility  ;  and  the  weak- 
ness of  my  sight  did  not  penetrate  into  the  inside  thereof. 
Yet  it  was  indeed  such  as  would  have  grown  up  with  little 
ones,  but  I  disdained  to  be  a  little  one,  and  being  puffed  up 
with  pride,  took  myself  to  be  a  great  one." 

Turning  from  the  fountain  of  truth,  he  became  associated 
with  the  Manichffians,  who,  among  many  other  absurd  theo- 
ries, maintained  that  man  had  two  souls  with  opposite  ten- 
dencies, and  that  particles  of  God  were  imprisoned  in  the 
fruits  of  the  earth. 

Meanwhile  a  pious  mother  was  earnestly  seeking  his  con- 
version to  the  true  faith.  Meeting  with  a  bishop,  she  en- 
treated him  to  use  his  influence  to  turn  Augustine  from  such 
absurd  doctrines ;  but  he  replied  to  her  solicitations  by  say- 
ing, "Let  him  alone,  only  pray  to  the  Lord  for  him;  he  will 
at  length,  by  reading,  discover  the  error,  and  see  how  great 
his  impiety."  At  the  same  time,  he  told  her  how,  when  he 
was  a  child,  he  had  been  deceived  in  the  same  manner,  and 
had  not  only  read  the  books  of  the  Manicha^an  sect,  but 
copied  almost  all  of  them,  and  had  himself  found  out,  with- 
out any  one's  disputing  with  him,  or  convincing  him,  how 
much  that  faith  was  to  be  detested,  and  had  therefore  forsa- 
ken it.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  she  still  importuned  him  with 
tears  to  attempt  a  reformation,  till  wearied  with  her  contin- 
ued entreaties,  he  impatiently  answered,  "  Go  your  way,  God 
bless  you,  for  it  can  not  be  that  a  child  of  those  tears  should 
perish."  This,  she  afterward  said,  was  to  her  as  an  oracle 
from  heaven. 

For  the  space  of  nine  years,  however,  he  continued  his 
blind  devotion  to  the  absurd  system ;  following  the  empti- 
ness of  popular  glory,  and  seeking  in  his  false  religion  to 
perform  meritorious  works  that  should  entitle  him  to  partic- 
ular eminence,  and  satisfy  the  desires  of  his  restless  spirit. 


442  AUGUSTINE. 

He  became  a  teacher  of  rlietoric,  and  "  sold  to  others  the 
art  of  overcoming  by  eloquence,"  he  says,  "  whilst  I  myself 
was  overcome  by  inordinate  desires."  The  theatre,  too,  was 
the  scene  of  his  displays.  Upon  one  occasion,  while  attempt- 
ing to  compete  for  a  prize  in  poetry,  a  certain  soothsayer 
sent  to  him  to  know  what  reward  he  would  give  him,  if  by 
his  help  he  might  overcome ;  but  his  mind  could  not  tolerate 
such  absurd  mj'-steries  as  those  offered,  and  he  answered,  that 
if  the  crown  to  be  obtained  was  to  be  of  immortal  gold,  he 
would  not  permit  a  fly  to  be  sacrificed  to  give  him  the  vic- 
tory. At  the  same  time,  however,  he  made  no  scruple  in 
consulting  planet-gazers,  but  was  turned  from  this  by  the 
kind  and  fatherly  advice  of  an  aged  friend,  who  besought 
him  not  to  spend  his  time  upon  that  empty  study,  when  the 
care  and  pains  should  be  bestowed  upon  something  more 
useful.  At  this  time,  the  death  of  one  of  his  companions  in 
error,  to  whom  he  was  devotedly  attached,  somewhat  changed 
his  views  of  life,  and  gave  him  some  troublesome  thoughts 
concerning  his  future.  He  loathed  life,  and  yet  feared  to  die. 
"  I  thought,"  said  he,  "  that  my  soul  and  his  was  but  one 
soul  in  two  bodies ;  and  therefore  I  loathed  life,  because  I 
was  unwilling  to  live  by  halves  ;  and  perhaps  I  am  afraid  to 
die,  lest  whole  he  should  perish  whom  I  had  loved  so  much." 

Unable  to  bear  even  the  sight  of  the  place  where  they  had 
lived  together,  he  left,  and  went  to  Carthage,  where  the  sooth- 
ing influence  of  time  and  the  charm  of  new  friendships  re- 
stored him  some  measure  of  comfort.  Then  it  was  he  began 
to  have  some  sense  of  the  defectiveness  of  human  friendship, 
compared  with  Divine  charity,  and  to  encourage  his  soul  in 
the  contemplation  of  heavenly  truth.  At  this  season  he 
wrote  his  books,  De  Pulchro  and  Apto,  which  he  dedicated 
to  Hierius,  the  Roman  orator,  whom  he  had  never  seen,  but 
whom  he  loved  for  the  fame  of  his  learning  and  eloquence. 
"  See,"  he  says,  "  where  a  weak  soul  lies,  that  is  not  yet  fixed 
upon  the  solidity  of  truth.  As  the  gales  of  tongues  blow 
from  the  breasts  of  fallible  men,  so  is  she  carried  and  turned 
and  whirled  about,  and  her  light  is  intercepted  by  clouds, 
and  she  sees  not  the  truth ;  and  yet  behold  it  stands  before 


AUGUSTINE.  443 

US.  And  it  seemed  to  me  a  great  matter,  if  my  stjde  and 
my  studies  were  known  to  such  a  man  ;  which  if  he  approved, 
I  should  be  still  more  inflamed ;  but  if  he  disapproved  them, 
it  would  have  wounded  my  vain  heart,  that  was  void  and 
empty  of  solidity." 

About  this  time,  Faustus,  a  Manichosan  bishop,  came  to 
Carthage,  with  whom  Augustine  early  associated  himself. 
He  had  long  desired  his  coming,  that  in  conference  with  him 
he  might  gain  the  wished-for  light  to  his  soul.  He  found 
him,  though  naturally  eloquent,  ignorant  of  the  liberal  sci- 
ences, and  unable  to  give  him  satisfaction  in  his  doubts,  "  I 
found  him,"  says  Augustine,  "  pleasant  and  agreeable  in  his 
discourse,  and  giving  out  the  same  things  as  others  were  ac- 
customed to  say,  but  much  more  gracefully :  but  what !  was 
my  thirst  relieved  by  having  these  precious  cups  set  before 
me  by  so  graceful  a  waiter  ?  My  ears  were  already  cloyed 
with  such  things ;  neither  did  they  now  seem  any  better  to 
me,  because  they  were  better  delivered ;  nor  therefore  true, 
because  elegant;  nor  the  soul  therefore  wiser,  because  the 
countenance  was  agreeable,  and  the  utterance  graceful."  The 
discovery  of  such  ignorance  in  one  of  their  prominent  men, 
greatly  abated  his  affection  for  the  Manicheean  doctrine,  and 
being  entirely  offended  with  the  ways  of  the  scholars  of  Car- 
thage, he  removed  to  Rome,  where  he  was  sick  of  a  danger- 
ous fever,  the  recovery  from  which  he  attributed  to  his 
mother's  prayers. 

After  teaching  rhetoric  for  a  while  at  Rome,  he  repaired 
to  Milan,  where  he  was  kindly  received  by  Ambrose,  and 
through  the  influence  of  his  preaching,  was  more  and  more 
alienated  from  his  long-cherished  doctrine. 

He  found  some  books  of  the  Platonic  philosophers  at  this 
place,  in  which  he  found  much  of  the  Divinity  of  the  Eternal 
.  Word,  which  gave  a  new  bias  to  his  thoughts,  and  led  him 
still  deeper  into  meditation  of  Divine  subjects.  As  now  the 
opposition  between  good  and  evil  in  human  nature  arrested 
the  attention  of  Augustine,  it  could  not  but  occur  to  him  as 
the  most  difficult  of  all  questions,  "  Whence  is  evil  in  this 
nature,"  which  feels  itself  attracted  toward  what  is  good,  and 


444  AUGUSTINE. 

is  even  conscious  of  it,  as  belonging  to  its  original  being? 
This  question — the  origin  of  evil — employed  him  for  a  long 
time.  It  was  bj  contemplating  this  question  that  he  was  led 
to  Manichseism ;  and  it  was  by  prosecuting  his  inquiries  fur- 
ther, that  he  was  brought  to  abandon  the  system.  The  wri- 
tings of  the  philosophers,  though  they  informed  him  of  many 
Divine  truths,  yet,  with  his  state  of  mind,  rather  fostered 
pride  in  him  than  humility.  From  these  he  turned  to  the 
right  and  only  true  source  of  truth — the  pages  of  inspiration, 
and  especially  dwelt  upon  Paul's  epistles,  wherein  he  learned 
the  humbling  doctrines  of  the  cross. 

In  conversation  with  one  Simplicianus,  the  story  of  the 
conversion  of  Yictorinus,  the  famous  Roman  orator,  was 
related  to  him,  which  produced  in  him  a  strong  desire  to 
imitate  his  example ;  but  he  was  kept  back  by  the  force  of 
his  evil  habits, 

Pontitianus,  a  courtier,  then  visited  him,  and  told  him  of 
the  life  of  Anthony,  and  how  two  of  his  fellow-courtiers, 
upon  reading  it,  had  renounced  the  world.  This  seemed  to 
deepen  the  impression  already  made  upon  his  mind,  and 
brought  his  soul  into  a  great  conflict,  during  which  he  re- 
tired into  a  garden  alone  in  great  distress.  There  he  had 
recourse  to  the  sacred  volume,  and  upon  opening  it,  his  eye 
fell  upon  the  passage,  "  Not  in  revelings  and  drunkenness, 
not  in  chamberings  and  impurities,  not  in  strifes  and  envies; 
but  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  make  not  provision 
for  the  flesh  in  its  concupiscences." 

With  the  end  of  this  sentence,  as  if  a  light  of  confidence 
and  security  had  streamed  into  his  heart,  all  the  darkness  of 
his  former  hesitation  was  dispelled. 

A  song  of  praise  to  God  for  his  deliverance  immediately 
filled  his  soul,  and  he  at  once  resolved  to  abandon  his  pro- 
fession as  a  teacher,  and  enter  upon  a  course  of  life  more 
congenial  to  his  new-created  nature.  By  way  of  Rome  he 
returned  to  Africa.  At  Ostia,  his  mother  was  taken  sick  and 
died,  and  how  much  greater  must  have  been  her  joy  on  leav- 
ing the  world,  since  the  object  of  her  solicitude  and  prayers, 
had  become  an  hopeful  heir  of  the  kingdom.     They  had 


AUGUSTINE.  445 

hours  of  heavenly  intercourse  together,  and  when  he  closed 
her  ej^es  in  death,  he  greatly  mourned  his  irreparable  loss. 

She  held  ever  sought  to  conduct  him  to  the  temple  of  wis- 
dom, and  now  as  he  stood  upon  its  very  threshold,  rejoicing 
in  the  new  and  alluring  prospect,  she  was  taken  Irom  him, 
but  his  soul  now  stood  on  the  broad  and  immovable  basis  of 
christian  confidence,  and  he  looked  above  and  beyond  tran- 
sitory scenes,  and  found  peace  and  comfort  in  God. 

He  had  been  able  to  attain  inward  peace  only  after  a  long 
and  violent  contest  with  an  ardent  and  vehement  natural 
temperament,  which  in  the  wild  consciousness  of  strength, 
resisted  every  thing  Divine.  Hurried  hither  and  thither 
daring  many  years  of  his  life,  between  the  ideal  standard 
which  attracted  the  longing  of  his  spirit,  and  the  desires  and 
passions  which  still  held  him  captive  to  the  lusts  of  the 
world,  he  experienced  in  himself  what  the  contest  of  the 
flesh  and  spirit  is.  From  his  own  internal  experience,  he 
learnt  how  to  understand  the  fundamental  ideas  of  christian 
anthropology,  and  especially  of  the  Pauline  doctrine  of  man; 
and  indeed  he  occupied  himself  especially  with  the  study  of 
Paul's  writings  at  the  very  time  when  that  great  crisis  in  his 
character  took  place. 

As  he  found  in  his  life  two  great  divisions, — on  the  one 
hand,  a  nature  powerless  notwithstanding  all  its  efforts,  and 
striving  in  vain  after  holiness ;  and  on  the  other,  a  nature 
subordinate  to  faith,  and,  by  the  power  of  redemption,  tri 
umphant  over  evil, — he  saw  again  the  same  great  divisions 
in  the  historical  development  of  human  nature  in  general. 

The  contrast  between  that  which  proceeds  from  nature  left 
to  itself  and  estranged  from  God,  and  that  which  proceeds 
from  the  new  and  Divine  principle  of  life  imparted  to  hu 
manity,  through  redemption  and  regeneration — this  contrast, 
which  he  had  learned  so  well  from  his  own  experience,  was 
thenceforth  adopted  by  him,  as  the  central  point  of  his 
theology. 

He  wrote  numerous  treatises,  and  presented  various  theo- 
ries and  opinions,  of  which  we  can  not  speak  here.  He  set 
apart  the  last  years  of  his  long  and  active  life  for  completing 


446  AUGUSTINE. 

his  theological  works,  which  were  in  part  connected  with 
controversies  which  he  regarded  as  important.  As  the  many 
duties  belonging  to  his  episcopal  office  left  him  no  leisure  for 
this,  he  procured  the  presbyter,  Eraclius,  who  had  been 
formed  under  his  eye,  to  be  united  with  him  as  an  assistant, 
witli  the  consent  of  the  church.  He  now  employed  himself 
in  preparing  a  Critique  of  all  his  writings, — his  JRetradiones. 
What  particularly  induced  him  to  do  this,  was  his  seeing 
that  many  passages  from  his  earlier  works  were  brought 
against  him  by  the  Pelagians  and  semi-Pelagians,  to  the 
great  embarrassment  of  his  enthusiastic  admirers,  who  would 
not  allow  any  error  in  a  man  whose  authority  with  them  was 
too  great.  Augustine,  however,  was  far  from  claiming  any 
such  authority  for  his  works ;  an  authority  which  in  his  view 
belonged  to  the  Bible  alone.  lie  said  to  these  extravagant 
admirers  of  his,  that  they  gave  themselves  needless  trouble ; 
they  had  not  undertaken  a  good  cause,  and  must  lose  the 
process,  even  by  his  own  decision.  He  rejoiced  in  the  ac- 
knowledgment that  he  had  made  advances  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth,  and  that  he  had  found  out  many  of  his  early 
errors  to  be  such ;  and  he  was  not  now  ashamed  to  point 
them  out  publicly  in  his  works. 

It  may  indeed  have  also  been,  as  might  be  inferred  from 
what  has  already  been  said,  that  as  his  mind  was  in  many 
respects  more  limited  by  system  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life, 
he  regarded  many  of  the  more  unshackled  opinions  of  his 
earlier  years  as  erroneous ;  or  that  he  himself  may  have  un- 
consciously carried  back  his  altered  system  into  the  expres- 
sions of  his  earlier  viev/s. 

He  next  employed  himself  about  his  last  work  in  the  Pela- 
gian controversies,  in  opposition  to  Julian,  which  he  was 
never  able  to  complete.  He  wrote  on  this  work  in  the  midst 
of  violent  political  storms,  which  brought  desolation  and 
ruin  over  the  flourishing  portion  of  the  world  in  which  he 
lived.  He  had  the  pain  to  see  accomplished  the  downfall  of 
a  man  who  had  once  been  very  dear  to  him.  The  leader, 
Boniface,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  and  successful  com- 
manders of  the  declining  Roman  empire,  had  been  induced 


AUGUSTINE.  447 

bj  the  advice  of  Augustine  himself,  to  abandon  his  intention 
of  withdrawing  into  monastic  life,  and  to  devote  his  powers 
to  the  defense  of  oppressed  Eomish  Christendom  against  the 
raging  incursions  of  the  barbarous  nations.  But  he  was 
afterward  prevailed  upon,  in  consequence  of  the  intrigues  of 
the  commandant  Aetius,  his  rival  in  military  renown,  to 
rebel  against  the  imperial  government.  In  order  to  sustain 
himself  in  this  contest,  he  called  in  the  Vandals  from  Spain 
to  his  aid.  Augustine  employed  a  favorable  monient  to 
speak  to  the  conscience  of  Boniface,  in  a  letter  written  with 
genuine  christian  dignity  and  great  wisdom, — a  true  model 
for  such  complicated  relations. 

Boniface  had  to  learn  by  bitter  experience  the  truth  of 
what  his  old  friend  had  predicted  to  him.  He  was  led  on 
further  than  he  himself  had  intended,  and  when  he  wished 
to  retrace  his  steps,  it  was  too  late.  The  Yandals  looked 
upon  those  flourishing  regions  as  their  own,  and  from  being 
the  allies  of  Bonifiace,  became  his  enemies.  Augustine's 
residence,  the  city  Hippo,  was  beseiged  by  them.  In  the 
midst  of  these  sufferings,  and  in  the  new  prospect  of  dangers 
impending,  it  was  Augustine's  common  prayer  that  God 
would  deliver  the  town  from  the  enemy ;  or  that  he  would 
grant  his  servants  power  to  endure  every  thing  which  his 
will  should  impose  upon  them ;  or  that  God  would  take  him 
out  of  the  world.  The  latter  event  took  place.  On  the  third 
month  of  the  seige,  which  lasted  fourteen  months,  Augustine 
died,  in  the  seventy -sixth  year  of  his  age,  in  the  year  429. 

The  strong  powers  of  his  mind,  sanctified  by  Divine  grace, 
fitted  him  for  great  usefulness  in  life,  but  while  he  was  ab- 
sorbed in  the  great  truths  of  revelation,  the  lamp  of  life  went 
out,  and  he  went  to  employ  the  energies  of  his  being  in  a 
higher  and  nobler  capacity  on  high. 

"Though  dead,  he  yet  speaks"  in  his  works,  and  the  echo 
of  his  name  shall  descend  to  latest  posterity. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

|0l]ii  CI]rBS0st0iiu 

EARLY  DISPLAY  OF  ELOQUENCE;    CHOSEN  BISHOP;    EFFORTS  AT  REFORMA- 
TION;    BANISHMENT;   UNJUST  TREATMENT,  AND  SUDDEN  DEATH. 

)  T  THE  commencement  of  the  fifth  century, 
)  Chrjsostom  was  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
w^*  \  where  the  emperor  Arcadius  resided,  while  his 
^j^d^^  brother  Honorius  reigned  in  the  west ;  these 
two  being  the  sons  and  successors  of  the  great 
Theodosius. 

He  was  born  at  Antioch,  about  the  year  354.  His  parents 
were  persons  of  some  rank,  and  by  the  care  of  his  mother, 
(for  he  lost  his  father  soon  after  his  birth,)  his  education  was 
attended  to  in  a  very  particular  manner.  By  her  means,  he 
had  the  advantage  of  being  early  prejudiced  in  favor  of 
Christianity.  Yet,  being  naturally  studious  of  eloquence,  he 
devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  that  great  master,  Libanius 
of  Antioch,  who,  being  one  day  asked  who  would  be  capable 
of  succeeding  him  in  his  school? — "John,"  said  he,  "if  the 
christians  had  not  stolen  him  from  us."  So  great  was  the 
idea  he  had  formed  of  his  eloquence. 

Having  pleaded  a  little  time  in  the  forum,  he  began  to 
find  a  vacancy  in  his  mind,  not  to  be  supplied  by  secular 
arts  and  studies.  The  S|)irit  of  God  seems,  from  that  time, 
to  have  drawn  him  to  study  the  Scriptures,  and  one  material 
advantage  he  derived  from  his  master,  Diodorus,  who  was 
afterward  bishop  of  Tarsus.  By  him  he  was  taught  to  for- 
sake the  popular  whims  of  Origen,  and  to  investigate  the 
literal  and  historical  sense  of  the  Divine  "Word ;  a  practice  in 
which  he  differed  from  most  of  the  fathers  of  his  times. 

Notwithstanding  the  entreaties  of  his  pious  mother,  he 
lived  in  monastic  austerities  for  some  time ;  after  which,  Fla- 
vian, bishop  of  Antioch,  promoted  him  to  the  office  of  pres- 


JOHNCHRYSOSTOM.  449 

byter  in  bis  diocese.  About  tlie  year  379,  a  sedition  broke 
out  at  Antiocli,  on  account  of  taxes,  and  the  people  dragged 
about  the  streets  the  statues  of  Theodosius,  and  of  his  excel- 
lent lady,  Flaccilla,  and  of  their  two  sons,  in  contempt. 

But  finding  afterward  the  danger  of  the  emperor's  resent- 
ment, this  inconstant  and  turbulent  people,  were  in  the 
greatest  distress.  Chrysostom  failed  not  to  improve  the 
opportunity. 

Serious  as  he  himself  was  in  christian  views,  so  far  as  he 
understood  them,  and  excellent  as  a  preacher  of  the  law,  he 
earnestly  exhorted  them  to  repentance.  His  spirit  was  soft- 
ened and  over-awed  with  the  mingled  sensations  of  pity  and 
devotion,  while  he  observed  the  severe  proceedings  of  the 
courts,  and  the  vain  intercessions  of  relations  for  husbands 
and  fathers.  He  was  led  to  reflect,  how  awful  the  day  of 
judgment  will  be,  when  not  a  mother,  sister  or  father  can 
arrest  the  course  of  Divine  justice,  or  give  relief  to  nearest 
relatives ;  and,  in  his  homilies,  he  with  much  eloquence  and 
piety  enforced  these  considerations  on  a  giddy,  unthinking 
people. 

In  the  year  398,  by  the  advice  of  Eutropius,  chief  cham- 
berlain of  the  palace,  he  was  appointed  bishop  of  Constanti- 
nople, being  hurried  thither  by  a  fraudulent  scheme,  such  as 
he  himself  had  approved  of  in  like  cases. 

He  began  immediately  to  attempt  the  reformation  of  his 
diocese,  and  highly  censured  many  of  the  customs  both  of 
the  clergy  and  laity. 

The  common  people  heard  him  gladly,  as,  for  a  time  at 
least,  they  generally  will  hear,  in  all  ages,  a  preacher  who 
speaks  to  the  conscience,  though  severely,  yet  faithfully, 
with  an  earnest  desire  exhibited  in  his  whole  manner  to  do 
them  good. 

Even  some  of  the  dissenters  attended  on  his  preaching,  nor 
did  he  labor  in  vain  in  reclaiming  heretics.  The  clergy,  in- 
dolent and  corrupt  as  they  then  were,  opposed  him  vehemently, 
and  watched  opportunities  against  him.  The  wealthy  and 
the  great,  offended  at  his  plain  reproofs,  were  as  ill-disposed 

as  the  clergy.     He  however  persevered,  nor  did  he  confine 

29 


450  JOHN    CHRYSOSTOM. 

his  cause  to  Constantinople.  In  order  to  overcome  the  Arian 
ism  of  the  Goths,  he  ordained  some  persons  of  their  country, 
and  assigned  them  a  church  within  the  city,  by  whose  indus- 
try he  reclaimed  many,  and  he  himself  often  preached  there, 
and  prevailed  on  others  of  the  clergy  to  do  the  same.  He 
made  liberal  and  active  attempts  to  spread  the  gospel  among 
barbarous  nations,  though  the  troubles,  which  afterward  be- 
fel  him,  must  have  checked  both  these  and  other  christian 
designs. 

He  was,  doubtless,  endowed  with  many  qualities  which 
belong  to  a  reformer,  and  on  account  of  his  earnest  efforts, 
profligate  bishops  accused  him. 

A  synod,  at  length,  held  and  managed  by  Theophilus, 
bishop  of  Alexandria,  his  determined  enemy,  and  one  of  the 
worst  ecclesiastical  characters  in  history,  supported  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  proud  Eudoxia,  the  empress,  condemned  him 
with  extreme  injustice.  Chrysostom,  foreseeing  the  effect  of 
the  storm  which  was  gathering  around  him,  addressed  himself 
to  the  bishops,  who  were  his  friends,  assembled  in  the  gTeat 
rooms  of  his  house.  "Brethren,"  said  he,  "be  earnest  in 
prayer,  and  as  you  love  our  Lord  Jesus,  let  none  of  you  for 
my  sake  desert  his  charge.  For,  as  was  Paul's  case,  I  am 
ready  to  be  offered  up,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at 
hand.  I  see  I  must  undergo  many  hardships,  and  then  quit 
this  troublesome  life.  I  know  the  subtlety  of  Satan,  who 
can  not  bear  to  be  daily  tormented  with  my  preaching.  By 
3^our  constancy  you  will  find  mercy  at  the  hand  of  God,  and 
remember  me  in  your  prayers."  The  assembly  being  afflicted 
with  vehement  sorrow,  he  besought  them  to  moderate  their 
grief;  saying,  "For  to  me  to  live  is  Christ,  and  to  die  is  gain." 
"  I  always  told  you  this  life  is  a  road  in  which  joys  and  sor- 
rows both  march  hastily  away.  The  visible  scene  of  things 
before  us  is  like  a  fair,  where  we  buy  and  sell,  and  sometimes 
recreate  ourselves.  Are  we  better  than  the  patriarchs  ?  Do 
we  excel  the  prophets  and  apostles,  that  we  should  live  here 
for  ever?" 

When  one  of  the  company  passionately  bewailed  the  deso- 
lations of  the  church,  the  bishop,  striking  the  end  of  his  right 


JOHN    CHRYSOSTOM.  451 

fore-finger  on  the  palm  of  his  left  hand,  (which  he  was 
accustomed  to  do  when  much  in  earnest,)  said,  "  Brother,  it  is 
enough,  pursue  the  argument  no  further ;  however,  as  I  re- 
quested, desert  not  your  churches.  As  for  the  doctrine  of 
Christ,  it  began  not  with  me,  nor  shall  it  die  with  me.  Did 
not  Moses  die  ?  and  did  not  Joshua  succeed  him  ?  Paul  was 
beheaded,  and  left  he  not  Timothy,  Titus,  Apollos,  and  many 
more  behind  him  ?" 

Thus  did  this  worthy  father  comfort  his  mourning  friends. 

The  people  of  Constantinople,  who  sincerely  loved  the 
bishop,  insisted  on  his  being  heard  by  more  equitable  judges, 
and  so  strong  was  their  agitation,  that  Chrysostom,  fearing  a 
popular  insurrection,  delivered  himself  up  secretly  to  the 
officer,  who  came  to  execute  the  imperial  warrant  against 
him.  He  was  conveyed  immediately  to  a  port  in  the  Black 
sea.  As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  he  was  gone,  the  whole 
city  was  in  an  uproar ;  many  blamed  the  emperor,  who,  in 
so  weak  a  manner,  had  given  up  the  most  upright  of  men,  to 
the  malice  of  his  wife  and  of  Theophilus.  The  tumult  was  at 
length  so  violent,  that  Eudoxia  herself, .  affrighted  at  the 
danger,  pressed  her  husband  to  recall  him,  and  even  wrote  to 
Chrysostom  a  letter  full  of  protestations  of  sorrow  and 
respect. 

He  was  therefore  restored  to  his  bishopric.  But  the  calm 
season  lasted  not  long. 

A  silver  statue  of  the  empress  was  solemnly  erected  in  the 
street,  just  before  the  great  church  of  St.  Sophia,  and  dedi- ' 
cated  with  many  heathenish  extravagancies.  The  bishop  im- 
patient of  these  things,  publicly  reproved  them  from  the 
pulpit.  His  enemies  could  not  desire  a  greater  advantage, 
and  they  improved  it  to  the  utmost. 

He  was  suspended  and  confined ;  his  friends  and  followers 
were  dispersed,  rifled,  killed,  or  imprisoned.  Edicts  were 
issued,  severely  threatening  all  that  refused  to  renounce 
communion  with  Chrysostom. 

Eeceiving  at  length  a  warrant  signed  by  the  emperor  to 
depart,  he  exhorted  his  friends  to  continue  their  care  of  the 
church,  and  to  communicate  with  the  bishop,  who  should  be 


452  JOHN    CHKYSOSTOM. 

chosen,  bj  common  consent,  in  his  room,  and  he  retired  once 
more  from  his  See,  in  the  year  404. 

He  was  conveyed  to  Cucusus,  in  Armenia,  a  barren,  cold 
region,  infested  with  robbers,  and  mournfully  marked  already 
with  the  murder  of  Paul,  the  former  bishop  of  Constantinople. 
His  journey  to  this  place  was  attended  with  many  grievous 
hardships,  though  sweetened  with  the  compassionate  care  of 
various  persons,  who  keenly  sympathized  with  injured  inno- 
cence. At  Cucusus,  however,  he  met  with  very  generous 
treatment.  Here  he  preached  frequently  to  a  people  who 
heard  him  gladly.  A  grievous  famine  raging  in  these  parts, 
he  was  enabled,  by  the  liberality  of  Olympias,  to  relieve  the 
poor,  and  he  redeemed  many  captives  which  had  been  taken 
by  the  Isaurian  robbers.  He  had  formerly  conceived  a  plan 
for  converting  the  pagans,  which  were  still  in  Phenicia,  and 
had  made  some  progress  in  it. 

But,  understanding  that  the  design  had  met  with  a  check, 
he  again  made  vigorous  attempts  for  the  support  of  so  good 
a  work,  and  ordered  sums  of  money  for  the  erection  of 
churches  and  the  .support  of  missionaries.  He  seemed  to 
recover  his  health  for  a  time ;  l?ut,  winter  approaching,  he 
felt  the  usual  effects  of  that  season  on  persons  of  weak  con- 
stitutions. His  stomach  had  unhappily  received  much  injury 
from  the  austerities  of  his  youth,  and  never  recovered  its  tone. 
The  next  spring  he  recruited,  but  was  always  obliged  to 
observe  the  strictest  regimen. 

He  was  obliged  to  move  from  place  to  place  on  account  of 
danger  from  robbers ;  and  as  he  wrote  to  Innocent,  bishop  of 
Rome,  who  sincerely,  though  unsuccessfully,  labored  in  his 
cause,  he  was,  in  the  third  year  of  his  banishment,  exposed 
to  famine,  pestilence,  war,  continual  sieges  and  incredible 
desolation,  to  death  every  day,  and  to  the  Isaurian 
swords. 

His  enemies,  beholding  with  an  evil  eye  the  respect  every 
where  paid  to  hira,  procured  an  order  for  him  to  be  removed 
to  Pityus,  the  very  shore  of  the  Black  sea.  In  his  way 
thither,  he  was  brought  to  an  oratory  of  Basiliscus,  who  liad 
suffered  martyrdom  under  Dioclesian's  persecution.     Here  he 


JOHN    CHRYSOSTOM.  453 

desired  to  rest;  but  his  guards,  wlio  had  all  along  treated 
him  with  brutish  ferocity,  refused  him  the  indulgence. 

Nature  was,  however,  exhausted ;  he  had  not  gone  four 
miles  before  he  was  so  extremely  ill  that  they  were  obliged 
to  return  with  him.  Here  he  received  the  Lord's  Supper, 
made  his  last  prayer  before  them  all,  and,  having  concluded 
with  his  usual  doxology,  "  glory  be  to  God  for  all  events," 
he  breathed  out  his  soul,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age,  in 
the  year  407. 

This  great  man,  "  though  dead,  yet  speaks  "  by  his  works. 

He  labored  much  in  expounding  the  Scriptures,  and,  though 
not  copious  in  the  exhibition  of  evangelical  truths,  still  he 
every  where  shows  that  he  loved  it. 

He  was  a  bishop  of  the  first  See ;  learned,  eloquent  above 
measure,  of  talents  the  most  popular,  of  a  genius  the  most 
exuberant,  and  of  a  solid  understanding  by  nature ;  magnani- 
mous and  generous,  liberal  almost  to  excess,  sympathizing 
with  distress  of  every  kind,  and  severe  only  to  himself;  a  man 
of  that  open,  frank,  ingenuous  temper  which  is  so  proper  to 
concihate  friendship ;  a  determined  enemy  of  vice,  and  of 
acknowledged  piety  in  all  his  intentions !  Yet  we  have  seen 
him  exposed  to  the  keenest  shafts  of  calumny,  expelled  with 
unrelenting  rage  by  the  united  efforts  of  the  court,  the  nobility, 
the  clergy  of  his  own  diocese,  and  the  bishops  of  other  dio- 
ceses. What  is  to  be  said  ?  The  just  conclusion  seems  to  be 
that  real  godliness^  under  christian  as  well  as  heathen  govern- 
ments, is  too  much  hated,  dreaded  and  persecuted. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


CLASSICAL  EDUCATION;  LIVES  IN  EETIREMENT;  MENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS. 

]HIS  renowned  monk  was  born  at  Stridon,  a  town 
in  the  confines  of  Dalmatia  and  Pannonia,  under 
the  emperor  Constantine,  in  the  year  331.  The 
place  was  obscure,  and  was  rendered  still  more  so 
by  the  desolations  of  the  Goths. 
That  Jerome  was  of  a  liberal  and  opulent  family,  appears 
from  the  pains  taken  with  his  education,  which  was  finished 
at  Eome,  that  he  might  there  acquire  the  gi*aces  of  Latinity. 
He  was  in  truth  the  most  learned  of  the  Eoman  fathers,  and 
was  eminent  both  for  genius  and  industry.  He  was  brought 
up  in  Christianity  from  infancy,  and  hence,  like  other  good 
men  who  have  had  the  same  advantages,  he  appears  never  to 
have  known  the  extreme  conflicts  with  indwelling  sin,  which, 
to  later  converts,  have  given  so  much  pain,  and  often  have 
rendered  them  more  eminently  acquainted  with  vital  religion. 
After  his  baptism  at  Eome,  he  traveled  into  France,  in 
company  with  Bonosus,  a  fellow  student.  He  examined 
libraries,  and  collected  information  from  all  quarters;  and, 
returning  into  Italy,  he  determined  to  follow  the  profession 
of  a  monk, — a  term  which  did  not  at  that  time  convey  the 
modern  idea  of  the  word.  In  Jerome's  time  it  meant  chiefly 
the  life  of  a  private  recluse  christian,  who  yet  was.  fettered 
by  no  certain  rules  nor  vows,  but  acted  according  to  his  own 
pleasure. 

Such  a  life  suited  the  disposition  of  a  studious  person  like 
him.  He  was,  however,  made  a  presbyter  of  the  church,  but 
never  would  proceed  any  further  in  ecclesiastical  dignity.  He 
spent  four  years  in  the  deserts  of  Syria,  reading  and  study- 
ing with  immense  industry. 


JEROME. 


455 


A  commentary  on  tlie  prophet  Obadiah,  wliicli  he  published, 
bore  strong  marks  of  juvenile  indiscretion,  as  he  afterward 
frankly  owned.  And  here,  by  the  assistance  of  a  few,  who 
visited  him,  Nicodemus-like,  in  the  evenings,  lest  he  should 
give  umbrage  to  his  brethren,  he  acquired  the  knowledge  of 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  and,  with  indefatigable  labor,  he  studied 
also  the  Chaldee  and  the  Syriac, 

On  his  return  to  Eome,  he  became  intimate  with  Paula,  the 
illustrious  descendant  of  the  Pauls,  so  famous  in  Eoman  story, 
with  Marcella,  and  other  opulent  ladies.  The  monastic  life, 
which  had  long  flourished  in  the  east,  was  only  beginning  to 
be  fashionable  in  the  west.  The  renowned  Athanasius,  and 
his  Egyptian  friends,  rendered  respectable  during  their  exile 
at  Eome  by  their  sufferings  for  the  faith,  contributed  to  throw 
a  dignity  on  such  a  course  of  life ;  and  the  zeal  of  Jerome 
nursed  the  same  spirit  among  serious  persons.  These  ladies, 
with  whom  he  was  intimate,  were  hence  induced  to  impart  a 
celebrity  to  the  monastic  taste  by  their  own  example. 

Spleen  and  calumny  hastened  the  departure  of  Jerome 
from  Eome.  This  great  man  had  not  learned  to  command 
his  passions,  and  to  .disregard  the  breath  of  fame.  Unjust 
aspersions  on  his  character  affected  him  with  a  very  blame- 
able  acrimony.  He  retired  again  to  the  east ;  there  several 
of  his  admirers  followed  him.  He  chose  Bethlehem  as  the 
seat  of  his  old  age,  where  Paula  erected  four  monasteries, — 
three  for  the  women  and  one  for  the  men,  in  which  Jerome 
lived  the  rest  of  his  life,  enjoying  at  times  the  society  of  his 
learned  friends. 

He  instructed  the  women  in  theology,  and  Paula  died, 
after  having  lived  twenty  years  in  the  monastery. 

Jerome  himself  died  in  the  ninety-first  year  of  his  age,  in 
the  year  422. 

He  was  certainly  serious,  in  the  very  best  sense  of  the 
word ;  yet  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  a  man  of  so  great  sinceri- 
ty, and  of  a  mind  so  vigorous,  should  have  been  of  so  little 
service  to  mankind.  The  truth  is,  his  knowledge  was  con- 
tracted and  low.  He  confessed,  that  while  he  macerated  his 
body  in  the  deserts,  he  was  thinking  of  the  pleasures  and 


456 


J  E  K  O  M  E . 


deliglits  of  Rome.  He  understood-  not  the  true  gospel-rays- 
terj^  of  mortifying  sin,  and,  by  Lis  voluntary  humility  and 
neglect  of  the  body,  added  to  the  fame  and  splendor  of  his 
voluminous  but  ill-digested  learning,  he  contributed  more 
than  any  other  person  of  antiquity  to  the  growth  of  super- 
stition. 

The  works  of  such  a  writer,  though  sound  in  the  essentials 
of  Christianity,  are  not  considered  worthy  a  particular  review, 
and  consequently  receive  only  a  brief  notice.  Here  and 
there  a  vigorous  and  evangelical  sentiment  breaks  out  amidst 
the  clouds. 

His  epistles  discover  him  to  have  been  sincere  and  heav- 
enly-minded, though  his  temper  was  choleric. 

In  a  letter  to  Nepotian,  there  are  various  rules  worthy  the 
attention  of  pastors,  concerning  the  contempt  of  riches,  the 
avoiding  of  secular  familiarities,  and  the  regulation  of  external 
conduct. 

He  wrote  an  epitaph  upon  this  same  Nepotian,  some  time 
after,  eloquent,  pious  and  pathetic. 

In  this  he  confesses  the  doctrine  of  original  sin,  and 
celebrates  the  victory  of  Christ  over  death. 

He  makes  an  excellent  use  of  the  public  miseries  of  the 
times,  by  recommending  more  strongly  a  practical  attention 
to  piety.  Hence,  also,  he  makes  the  best  apology  which 
could  be  invented  for  his  favorite  solitude. 

In  his  letter  to  Rusticus  the  monk,  the  learned  reader  who 
would  see  a  practical  comment  on  Paul's  cautions  against 
voluntary  humility  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  may 
behold  it  in  Jerome. 

He  abounds  in  self-devised  ways  of  obtaining  holiness,  while 
the  true  way  of  humble  faith  in  Jesus  is  not  despised  indeed, 
but  little  attended  to. 

A  short  letter  to  Florentius  shows  genuine  humility,  and 
acquiescence  to  Christ,  as  his  sole  hope,  after  all  his  austerities. 

It  Avas  this  humble  faith  in  Christ,  w^hich  checked  the  im- 
petuosity and  arrogance  of  his  natural  temper,  repressed  his 
vain-glory,  and  in  some  degree  changed  a  lion  into  a  lamb. 
For   Jerome,  though  exactly  formed  by  constitution   and 


PATRICK,    THE    APOSTLE.  457 

habit,  to  sustain  the  character  of  a  Pharasee,  was  too  deeply 
conscious  of  internal  pollution  to  be  one  in  reality. 

It  can  not  be  denied  that  he  was  humble  before  God,  and 
truly  pious ;  and  of  him  it  must  be  said,  to  the  honor  of 
christian  godliness,  how  much  worse  a  man  he  would  have 
been,  had  he  not  known  Christ  Jesus,  and  how  much  better, 
if  he  had  known  him  with  more  clearness  and  persj)icuity. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

MANNER  OF  HIS  CONVERSION;    SINGULAR  DEVOTION  TO  PIOUS  LABORS; 
EXTRACTS  FROM  HIS  WRITINGS;    MOTIVES  OF  ACTION. 


HIS  remarkable  man  was  trained  for  his  important 
calling  by  a  very  peculiar  way  of  life ;  and  in  his 
example  we  see  how  that  infinite  wisdom  which 
conducts  the  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
on  earth,  knows  how  to  produce  great  results 
by  what,  in  the  eyes  of  men,  appears  little. 

Patrick,  in  his  native  language,  called  Sukkath,  was  born 
about  the  year  372,  in  the  village  of  Bonaven,  between  the* 
Scottish  towns  of  Dumbarton  and  Glasgow.  He  was  the  son 
of  a  poor,  unlearned  deacon  belonging  to  the  village  church. 
No  particular  care  was  taken  of  his  education,  and  he  led  a 
thoughtless  life,  without  laying  to  heart  the  religious 
instructions  of  his  parents,  till  toward  his  seventeenth  year. 

It  then  came  to  pass,  that  a  severe  chastisement  by  his 
heavenly  Father  woke  him  from  his  sleep  of  death  to  a 
higher  life. 

Pirates,  of  the  savage  tribe  of  the  Scots,  who  then  inhabited 
Ireland,  landed  at  Patrick's  residence,  and  carried  him  and 
others  away  as  prisoners.  He  was  sold  into  the  service  of  a 
Scottish  chief,  who  committed  to  him  the  care  of  his  cattle. 
Trouble  led  his  heart  to  God,  whom,  during  the  days  of  quiet, 
in  his  parents'  house,  he  had  not  thought  of. 


458  patkice:,   the  apostle. 

Forsaken  by  men,  he  found  in  Him  consolation  and  happi- 
ness, and  now  first  learnt  to  know  and  enjoy  the  treasure 
which  the  christian  has  in  heaven. 

As  he  wandered  about  with  the  cattle  in  the  ice  and  snow, 
he  enjoyed  intercourse  with  God  in  prayer  and  calm  medita- 
tion. Let  us  hear  him  speak  for  himself,  as  he  describes  the 
change  that  now  came  over  him,  in  a  narrative  written  by 
him  at  a  later  period. 

"I  was,"  he  says,  "about  sixteen  years  old,  and  knew 
nothing  of  the  true  God,  when  I  and  many  thousand  persons 
were  carried  away  into  captivity,  according  to  our  deserts, 
since  we  had  departed  from  God,  and  had  not  observed  His 
commands. 

"  There  God  opened  my  unbelieving  mind,  so  that,  although 
late,  I  thought  of  my  sins,  and  turned  with  my  whole  heart 
to  the  Lord  my  God,  to  Him  who  looked  down  on  my  low 
condition,  had  pity  on  my  youth  and  ignorance,  and  before 
I  knew  Him,  before  I  could  distinguish  between  good  and  evil, 
guarded,  protected,  and  cherished  me,  as  a  father  his  son. 
This  I  certainly  know,  that  before  God  humbled  me,  1  was 
like  a  stone  sunk  in  the  mire ;  but  when  He  came  who  had 
power  to  do  it.  He  raised  me  in  His  mercy,  and  put  me  on  a 
very  high  place. 

•  "  Wherefore  I  must  testify  aloud,  in  order  to  make  some 
return  to  the  Lord  for  such  great  blessings  in  time  and 
eternity,  which  no  human  reason  is  able  to  estimate. 

"  When  I  came  to  Ireland,  and  had  daily  charge  of  the 
cattle,  I  prayed  many  times  a  day ;  the  fear  of  God  and  love 
to  Him  was  increasingly  kindled  in  me ;  faith  grew  in  me,  so 
that  in  one  day  I  offered  a  hundred  prayers,  and  at  night 
almost  as  many ;  and  when  I  passed  the  night  in  the  woods 
or  on  the  mountains,  I  rose  up  to  pray  in  the  snow,  ice,  and 
rain,  before  day-break. 

"Yet  I  felt  no  pain;  there  was  no  sluggishness  in  me, 
such  as  I  now  find  in  myself,  for  then  the  spirit  glowed 
within  me." 

After  spending' six  years  in  the  service  of  this  chief,  he 
believed  that  he  heard  a  voice  in  his  sleep  which  promised 


PATRICK,    THE    APOSTLE.  459 

him  a  speedy  return  to  his  native  land,  and  soon  announced 
to  him  that  a  vessel  was  ready  for  him. 

In  dependence  on  this  call  he  set  out,  and  after  a  journey 
of  several  days  he  met  with  a  vessel  which  was  on  the  point 
of  sailing.  But  the  captain  at  first  would  not  receive  the 
poor,  unknown  youth.  Patrick  fell  on  his  knees  and  prayed. 
He  had  not  finished  his  prayer  when  one  of  the  ship's  com- 
pany called  him  back,  and  summoned  him  to  go  with 
them.  -After  undergoing  many  sufferings,  and  experiencing, 
by  the  mercy  that  guarded  him,  many  a  deliverance  from 
great  dangers,  he  reached  his  home  once  more. 

Several  years  after,  he  was  again  taken  prisoner  by  pirates. 
But  after  sixty  days  he  regained  his  liberty  by  a  special 
interposition  of  Providence,  and  returned  home  after  many 
fresh  dangers  and  toils.  Great  was  the  joy  of  his  parents  to 
see  their  son  again  who  had  endured  so  much,  and  they  en- 
treated him  now  to  remain  constantly  with  them.  But  he 
felt  an  irresistible  call  to  carry  the  message  of  salvation  to 
the  people  among  whom  he  had  passed  his  youth,  and  had 
been  born  again  to  the  life  of  heaven. 

As  the  apostle  Paul  was  called  by  the  Lord,  in  a  night-vis- 
ion, to  carry  the  first  news  of  salvation  to  the  people  of 
Macedonia,  so  a  man  appeared  to  Patrick  in  a  night- vision, 
with  many  letters.  He  gave  him  one,  and  he  read  the  wordss, 
"  words  of  the  Irish,"  and  as  he  was  reading  he  thought  he 
heard  the  united  voices  of  many  Irish,  who  dwell  near  the 
sea,  exclaiming,  "  we  beseech  thee,  child  of  God,  come  and 
again  walk  among  us !  "  His  feelings  would  not  allow  him 
to  read  any  further,  and  he  awoke.  Another  night  he 
believed  that  he  heard  a  voice  from  heaven,  in  a  dream,  the 
last  words  of  which  were  intelligible  to  him,  "  He  who  gave 
his  life  for  thee.  He  speaks  in  thee."  '  He  awoke  full  of  joy. 
One  night  it  was  as  if  there  was  something  in  him,  and  yet 
above  him,  that  was  not  himself,  praying  with  deep  sighs, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  prayer  it  spake  as  if  it  was  no  other 
than  the  spirit  of  God.  He  awoke  and  recollected  the  trans- 
cendent expressions  of  Paul,  respecting  the  intimate  inter- 
course of  God's  children  with  his  own  Spirit. 


460  PATRICK,    THE    APOSTLE. 

As  the  Almighty  Shej^herd  of  souls  does  not  draw  to  him- 
self, guide  and  cherish  all  souls  in  exactly  the  same  way,  but 
manifests  and  imparts  himself  to  them  in  various  ways,  ac- 
cording to  his  special  purposes  respecting  them  and  their 
diversified  wants,  so  he  granted  Patrick,  by  peculiar  tokens 
of  his  grace,  the  pledge  for  the  certainty  of  his  intimate  com- 
munion with  him,  and  particularly  for  his  call  to  publish'the 
gospel  to  the  inhabitants  of  Ireland. 

His  relations  and  friends  strove  to  keep  him  back,  and 
represented  that  such  an  undertaking  far  exceeded  his  powers. 
"We  are  informed  of  this  by  himself:  "Many  opposed  my 
going,  and  said  behind  my  back,  '  Why  does  this  man  rush 
into  danger  among  the  heathen,  who  do  not  know  the  Lord?' 
It  was  not  badly  intended  on  their  part ;  but  they  could  not 
comprehend  the  matter  on  account  of  my  uncouth  disposi- 
tion." Yet  nothing  could  turn  him  aside,  for  he  depended 
on  the  power  of  the  Lord,  who  had  imparted  to  him  an  in- 
ward assurance  that  He  had  called  him,  and  would  be  with 
him. 

He  says  himself:  "Whence  did  I  receive  so  great  and 
blessed  a  gift,  to  know  and  love  God,  to  leave  native  land 
and  parents,  although  many  gifts  were  offered  me  with  tears 
if  I  would  remain  there  ? 

"And,  against  my  wishes,  I  was  forced  to  offend  my  rela- 
tions and  many  of  my  well-wishers. 

"But,  according  to  God's  guidance,  I  did  not  yield  to  them 
at  all,  not  by  my  own  power,  but  it  was  God  who  conquered 
in  me  and  withstood  them  all,  so  that  I  went  to  the  people  of 
Ireland  to  publish  the  gospel  to  them,  and  suffered  many  in- 
sults from  unbelievers,  and  many  persecutions,  even  unto 
bonds,  resigning  my  liberty  for  the  good  of  others.  And,  if 
I  am  found  worthy,  I  am  ready  to  give  up  my  life  with  joy 
for  his  name's  sake." 

Thus  Patrick  went  to  Ireland  in  the  year  431.  The 
knowledge  he  had  obtained  of  the  Irish  language  was  now  of 
great  use  to  him. 

By  the  sound  of  a  kettle  drum,  he  collected  large  assemblies 
r>f  people  in  the  open  air,  and  told  them  of  the  sufferings  of 


PATEICK,    THE    APOSTLE.  461 

tlie  Saviour  for  sinful  humanity ;  and  the  word  of  the  cross 
evinced  its  power  on  the  hearts  of  many. 

He  met,  indeed,  with  warm  opposition.  The  priests  and 
national  bards,  who  had  great  influence,  instigated  the  people 
against  him,  and  he  had  to  endure  many  severe  persecutions. 
But  he  conquered  by  steadfastness  of  faith,  glowing  zeal  and 
the  attractive  power  of  love. 

The  following  incident  furnishes  a  beautiful  example  of  the 
power  with  which  he  operated  on  the  minds  of  men. 

He  was  at  one  time  in  a  family  of  rank,  the  members  of 
which  he  baptized.  The  son  of  the  house,  a  youth,  enter- 
tained such  love  for  Patrick  that  he  resolved,  however  much 
his  friends  tried  to  dissuade  him,  to  forsake  all  and  to  accom- 
pany the  preacher  of  the  gospel  amidst  all  his  dangers  and 
toils.  On  account  of  his  friendly,  gentle  disposition,  Patrick 
gave  him  the  nanie  of  Benignus.  He  availed  himself  of  the 
agreeable  voice  of  the  youth,  in  order  to  influence  the  people 
by  means  of  singing. 

Benignus  was  zealously  engaged  with  him  in  publishing 
the  gospel  to  the  time  of  his  death,  and  he  succeeded  him  in 
the  pastoral  oflice.  Many  of  the  national  bards  were  con- 
verted by  him,  and  sang,  in  their  own  hymns,  of  the  worth- 
lessuess  of  idolatry,  and  to  the  praise  of  God  and  Christ. 
Patrick  devoted  himself  particularly  to  the  heads  or  chief- 
tains of  the  people. 

If  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  stirred  up  by  the  priests 
against  the  foreign  religion,  they  could  do  much  harm ;  and, 
on  the  other  hand,  if  they  received  the  gospel,  their  example 
would  render  the  people  more  inclined  toward  it,  and  form 
a  counterpoise  to  the  reverence  felt  for  the  Druids. 

The  superior  education  of  these  chiefs  also  rendered  it  more 
easy  to  convince  them  of  the  absurdity  of  idolatry. 

But  Patrick  was  far  from  seeking  merely  to  bring  about  an 
external  conversion  of  the  people,  by  means  of  their  chiefs ; 
he  frequently  traveled  round  the  whole  island,  accompanied 
by  his  pupils  and  assistants,  read  to  the  assembled  people  out 
of  the  Gospels,  and  preached  on  what  he  had  read.  Young 
persons  of  both  sexes  were  seized  with  the  love  of  a  religious 


462  PATRICK,    THE    APOSTLE. 

life ;  and  even  female  slaves,  who  would  not  allow  themselves 
to  be  terrified  by  the  threats  and  ill-treatment  of  their  heathen 
masters. 

Patrick  received  slaves  who  had  suffered  harsh  treatment 
from  their  owners ;  and,  when  he  found  young  men  of  the 
loAver  rank  who  seemed  suited  for  a  higher  calling,  he  took 
care  they  should  be  instructed  and  brought  up  to  be  teachers 
of  the  people. 

From  his  youth  up,  he  had  experienced,  as  we  have  seen, 
special  Divine  leadings,  by  which  his  heart  was  deeply  affected. 
As  he  now  labored  with  the  ardor  and  power  of  faith,  he  was 
able  to  produce  effects  on_  rude  minds  to  which  common 
human  power  was  incompetent.  He  saw  himself,  also,  here 
supported  by  the  peculiar  guidance  of  that  God  whose  word 
ha  published.  He  speaks  of  this  fact,  not  with  spiritual 
pride,  but  full  of  the  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness  and 
weakness,  and  from  a  consciousness  of  the  power  and  grace 
of  God  that  worked  in  him  and  by  him. 

After  speaking,  in  one  of  his  letters,  of  the  miracles  which 
God  had  allowed  him  to  perform  among  a  rude  people,  he 
adds  :  "  Yet  I  conjure  all  persons ;  let  no  one,  on  account  of 
these  or  similar  things,  believe  that  I  place  myself  on. a  level 
with  any  of  the  apostles  or  perfected  saints ;  for  I  am  a  poor, 
sinful,  despicable  man." 

But  far  more  important  to  him  than  the  miracles  which  he 
performed  was  that  which  filled  his  whole  soul,  that  by  him, 
who,  till  God  had  led  him  to  himself  by  sharp  correction,  had 
felt  so  little  concern  about  his  own  salvation,  many  thousands 
of  the  people  who  had  hitherto  known  nothing  of  the  true 
God  had  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  salvation. 

"Be  astonished,"  he  says  in  his  confessions,  "both  high 
and  low,  who  fear  God,  and  ye  fine  talkers  who  know  noth- 
ing of  the  Lord,  understand  and  examine  who  it  is  has  called 
a  simple  person  like  myself  from  the  midst  of  those  who  were 
regarded  as  wise  men  and  scribes,  as  mighty  in  word  and 
works ;  and  though  I  was  despicable  in  the  eyes  of  the  Avorld, 
He  has  called  me  by  His  spirit  to  serve,  though  with  fear 
and  trembling,  yet  faithfully  and  blamelessly,  the  people  to 


PATKICK,    THE    APOSTLE.  463 

whom  tlie  love  of  Christ  hath  led  me.  I  must  bless  my  God 
unceasingly,  who  has  kept  me  faithful  in  the  day  of  trial,  so 
that  at  this  time  I  can  present  my  soul  full  of  confidence  as  a 
living  thank-offering  to  my  Lord  Christ,  who  has  rescued  me 
from  all  my  distresses,  so  that  I  am  obliged  to  say,  '  Who  am 
I,  0  Lord,  and  what  is  my  calling?  since  thou  hast  so 
gloriously  revealed  thy  divinity  to  me,  that  to-day  I  can 
continually  rejoice  among  the  heathen,  and  glorify  thy  name 
wherever  I  am,  not  only  in  prosperity,  but  also  in  tribula- 
tion ;'  so  that  whatever  may  befall  me,  I  can  receive  evil  as 
well  as  good  with  an  equal  mind,  and  must  continually  thank 
God,  who  has  taught  me  to  believe  in  Him  as  eternal  truth !" 

Patrick  endeavored  to  avoid  even  the  semblance  of  seeking 
his  own  glory  or  profit.  A  man  who  according  to  all  human 
appearance  was  not  fitted  to  accomplish  any  thing  so  great, 
who  was  called  from  obscurity  and  meanness  to  so  high  a 
place,  and  hence  one  in  whom,  as  it  often  happens,  many 
who  knew  him  earlier  and  only  according  to  the  flesh,  were 
not  disposed  to  recognize  what  the  Spirit  of  God  had 
effected ;  for  such  an  one  it  was  necessary  to  be  peculiarly 
careful  to  take  away  every  pretext  from  those  who  were  dis- 
posed to  explain  every  thing  by  flesh  and  blood,  whatever 
they  could  not  measure  or  conceive  of  by  the  common  stand- 
ard. "When  many  persons,  affected  by  gratitude  and  love  to 
the  teacher  of  salvation,  their  spiritual  father,  voluntarily 
brought  him  presents,  and  pious  females  gladly  surrendered 
their  ornaments  for  the  purpose,  Patrick,  in  order  to  avoid 
every  appearance  of  evil,  refused  them  all,  though  the  givers, 
both  men  and  women,  were  at  first  offended. 

He  himself  gave  presents  to  the  heathen  chiefs,  in  order  to 
procure  from  them  peace  for  himself  and  his  flock ;  he  re- 
deemed many  christians  from  captivity,  and  was  ready,  as  a 
faithful  shepherd,  to  give  up  every  thing,  even  life  itself,  for 
his  sheep.  In  his  Confessions,  which,  after  he  had  been  la- 
boring thirty  years  in  his  calling,  he  addressed  to  his  con- 
verts, he  says:  "In  order  that  you  may  give  me  joy,  and 
that  I  nmy  always  give  you  joy  in  the  Lord,  I  do  not  repent 
of  what  I  have  done,  and  yet  it  is  not  enough  for  me.     I  give 


464  PATRICK,    THE    APOSTLE. 

up,  and  will  givp  up  far  more.  The  Lord  is  powerful  hence- 
fortli  to  grant  that  I  may  give  myself  up  for  your  souls.  I 
call  God  to  witness  that  I  have  not  written  this  in  order  to 
gain  honor  from  you.  That  honor  is  enough  for  me  which 
is  not  seen  but  is  believed  in  the  heart.  God  is  faithful,  who 
has  promised,  and  who  never  lies.  But  I  see  myself  already 
in  this  world  exalted  by  the  Lord  above  measure. 

"  I  know  very  well  that  poverty  and  discomfort  suit  me 
much  better  than  riches  and  a  life  of  pleasure. 

"  Yes !  even  the  Lord  Christ  became  poor  for  our  sakes. 

"  Daily  I  expected  to  be  seized,  to  be  dragged  to  slavery, 
or  to  be  killed.  But  I  feared  none  of  all  these  things,  on 
account  of  the  promises  of  heaven ;  for  I  have  cast  myself  in 
the  arms  of  Almighty  God  who  rules  over  all. 

"  Now  I  commend  my  soul  to  my  faithful  God,  whom  I 
serve  as  His  messenger  in  my  lowliness ;  but  since  He  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  and  has  chosen  me  to  this  calling  that  I 
should  serve  Him,  as  one  of  the  least  of  His  servants,  how  can 
I  repay  the  Lord  for  all  the  goodness  He  has  shown  me  ? 
What  shall  I  say  unto  my  Lord,  or  what  shall  I  promise 
Him  ?     For  I  have  no  power  unless  He  gives  it  me  ! 

"  But  He  tries  the  heart  and  the  reins,  and  He  knows  that  I 
greatly  desire  that  He  would  give  me  the  cup  of  suffering  to 
drink  as  He  has  given  it  to  others  who  love  Him. 

"May  my  God  never  suffer  it,  that  I  should  lose  the' 
church  which  He  has  won  in  the  most  remote  corner  of  the 
earth.  I  pray  God  that  He  would  give  me  perseverance, 
and  think  me  worthy  to  bear  a  faithful  testimony  until  the 
time  of  my  departure ;  and  if  I  have  ever  striven  to  acccom- 
plish  any  thing  for  the  sake  of  the  God  whom  I  love,  I  be- 
seech Him  that  I  may  be  allowed  to  shed  my  blood  for  His 
name  with  those  my  new  converts  who  have  been  imprisoned, 
even  though  I  should  obtain  no  burial,  or  even  should  my 
body  be  torn  in  pieces  by  wild  beasts. 

"I  firmly  believe,  if  this  should  happen  to  me,  that  I 
have  gained  my  soul  along  with  my  body;  for  beyond  a 
doubt  we  shall  rise  again  in  that  da};-  with  the  splendir  of  the 
sun ;  that  is,  with  the  glory  of  the  Redeemer,  who  is  the  Son 


PATRICK,    THE    APOSTLE.  465 

of  the  living  Grod,  as  fellow-lieirs  with  Christ  and  bearing  his 
image ;  for  we  shall  reign  by  Him,  and  through  Him,  and 
with  Him. 

"  That  sun  which  we  see,  daily  rises  for  us  according  to 
God's  command,  but  it  will  never  reign,  nor  will  its  splendor 
endure  forever.  All  the  unhappy  beings  who  worship  it 
will  suffer  punishment.  But  we  adore  believingly  the  true 
sun — Christy  who  will  never  set;  and  also  he  who  does  His 
will  shall  never  set,  but  will  live  forever,  as  Christ  lives  for- 
ever, and  reigns  with  God  the  Father,  and  the  Holy  Spirit, 
from  eternity,  both  now  and  forever." 

Patrick  would  gladly  have  revisited  his  native  land,  Brit- 
ain, his  relatives,  and  his  old  friends  in  Gaul,  after  many 
years'  absence  and  labor,  but  he  sacrificed  his  intention  to  a 
higher  call.  "I  would  gladly,"  he  says,  "travel  to  my  par- 
ents in  my  native  land,  and  also  visit  the  brethren  in  Gaul, 
to  see  once  more  the  faces  of  the  saints  of  my  Lord.  God 
knows  that  I  wish  it  very  much ;  but  I  am  bound  by  the 
Spirit,  who  testifies  that  He  will  pronounce  me  guilty  if  I  do 
this,  and  I  dread  lest  the  work  I  have  begun  should  fall  to 
the  ground." 

Thus  he  continued  to  labor,  making  every  thing  subservi- 
ent to  the  glory  of  God,  till  death  ended  his  career,  and  he 
went  home  to  His  heavenly  mansions  on  high,  to  reap  his 
everlasting  reward  in  an  eternity  of  blessedness,  at  the  right 

hand  of  the  Eternal  throne. 

30 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Columkii. 

ESTABLISHES  CONVENTS  FOE  THE  PURPOSE  OF  SPREADING  THE  GOSPEL; 
INSTRUCTIONS  TO  HIS  PUPILS;    IS  FINALLY  BANISHED. 

I  HE  wild  parts  of  Ireland  became,  from  the  exam- 
ple of  Patrick,  covered  with  monasteries  erected 
bj  the  hard  labor  of  the  monks.  The  Irish  mo- 
nasteries were  distinguished  for  strict  christian 
discipline,  for  industry,  zeal  for  the  knowledge 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  general  intelligence,  as  much  as  they 
could  collect  of  it.  The  Irish  monks  brought  knowledge 
from  Britain  and  France  ;  they  preserved  this,  and  digested 
it  in  their  monastic  retirement,  and  were  destined  to  bring 
back  the  seeds  of  science  along  with  more  living  Christianity 
to  the  districts  from  which  they  had  formerly  received  these 
seeds,  but  where  they  were  choked  by  the  spreading 
barbarism. 

The  most  renowned  of  the  Irish  monasteries,  and  a  semi- 
nary for  missionaries  and  teachers  of  the  rude  nations,  was 
that  of  Bangor,  founded  by  the  Abbot  Comgal,  who  had 
three  thousand  monks  under  his  care. 

From  this  school  the  Irish  abbot  Columban  came  forth,  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixth  century. 

When  about  thirty  years  old,  he  felt  an  impulse  to  go  out 
amidst  difficulties  and  dangers,  to  publish  the  gospel,  and  to 
plant  christian  discipline  among  savage  nations. 

In  a  letter  written  after  suffering  persecution  in  France,  he 
says :  "  It  was  my  wish  to  visit  the  heathen,  and  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  them." 

His  pupil  and  biographer,  Jonas,  gives  the  following  ac- 
count: "He  began  to  long  after  a  pilgrim's  life,  recollecting 
that  command  of  the  Lord,  '  Go  forth  from  thy  country,  and 
from  thy  kindred,  and  from  thy  father's  house,  into  a  land 
which  I  shall  show  thee.' "     He  disclosed  to  Father  Columban 


COLUMBAX.  467 

the  glowing  desire  of  liis  heart ;  that  longing  kindled  by  the 
fire  of  the  Lord ;  that  fire  of  which  the  Lord  saj^s,  "  I  am 
come  to  kindle  a  fire  upon  the  earth."  Columban  himself 
says  of  that  holy  fire  of  love,  "0  that  God  would  grant  that 
He  would  awaken  me  out  of  the  sleep  of  indolence,  and  so 
kindle  that  fire  of  Divine  love,  that  this  Divine  flame  may 
always  burn  within  me. 

"  0  that  I  had  the  wood  with  which  that  fire  might  be 
continually  nourished,  that  it  might  never  more  be  quenched, 
but  always  increase  within  me." 

Permission  having  been  granted  by  the  abbot,  Columban, 
with  twelve  j^ouths  who  were  training  under  his  guidance  for 
ecclesiastics,  repaired  about  the  year  590  to  France,  where,  at 
that  time,  owing  to  the  continual  wars,  the' political  disturb- 
ances, the  remissness  of  the  worldly-minded  bishops,  who  oc- 
cupied themselves  more  about  worldly  business  than  about 
spiritual  concerns,  the  greatest  confusion  and  irregularity 
prevailed ;  among  the  monastic  orders,  especially,  great  de- 
generacy had  spread,  many  convents  having  been  given  away 
by  the  princes  to  laymen  of  rank. 

The  strict  piety  and  superior  knowledge  of  Columban  ob- 
tained so  much  the  greater  reverence  for  him  among  a  disor- 
derly and  ignorant  multiude.  He  was  requested  to  settle  in 
the  kingdom  of  Burgundy,  and  might  have  obtained  a  con- 
vent, in  which  he  could  have  lived  with  his  scholars  in  quiet 
comfort  and  great  respectability.  But  he  declared  that  he 
did  not  seek  for  earthly  goods,  but  felt  himself  compelled  to 
obey  the  words  of  Christ :  "  Whoever  will  be  my  disciple,  let 
him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me." 

He  now  betook  himself  to  an  immense  wilderness  in  the 
Vosges,  and  chose  for  his  settlement  the  ruins  of  an  ancient 
dilapidated  castle  called  Anegray.  ^ 

As  the  monks  were  obliged  to  bring  the  land  into  a  state 
of  cultivation,  at  first  they  often  suffered  hunger;  but  Co- 
lumban, even  under  such  circumstances  where  human  succor 
was  wanting,  maintained  an  unwavering  confidence  in  God, 
which  could  never  be  put  to  shame. 

At  one  time  they  had  nothing  to  eat,  but  the  bark  of  trees, 


468 


COLUMBAN. 


and  wild  lierbs,  and  their  destitution  was  the  more  pressing, 
because  one  of  their  number  was  ill,  for  whose  restoration 
they  could  do  nothing.  Three  days  they  had  spent  in  prayer 
to  obtain  relief  for  their  sick  brother,  when  they  saw  a  man 
standing  at  the  door  of  the  convent,  whose  horses  were  laden 
with  sacks  full  of  provisions.  He  told  them  that  he  felt 
obliged  by  a  sudden  impulse  to  assist  with  his  means  those 
who  from  love  to  Christ  endured  such  privations  in  the 
wilderness. 

Another  time  they  had  for  nine  days  suffered  similar  want, 
when  the  heart  of  another  abbot  was  moved  to  send  them 
provisions.  When  a  foreign  priest  once  visited  them,  and 
expressed  his  surprise  that  Columban  could  feel  so  easy,  al- 
though he  had  s5  little  corn  in  his  granary,  he  replied :  "  If 
people  faithfully  serve  their  Creator,  they  will  suffer  no 
want;  as  it  is  written  in  the  Psalms,  'I  have  never  seen  the 
righteous  forsaken,  nor  his  seed  begging  bread.' 

"  He  who  could  satisfy  five  thousand  men  with  five  loaves, 
can  easily  fill  our  barns  with  meal." 

To  great  power  and  activity  for  practical  purposes,  Colum- 
ban joined  a  disposition  for  religious  contemplation,  taking 
delight  in  inward  quiet ;  and  the  union  in  him  of  these  two 
qualities,  as  in  many  pious  men  of  that  age,  is  a  proof  of  his 
healthy  christian  simplicity,  of  a  soul  resting  firmly  on  God. 
He  frequently  went  into  the  depths  of  the  forest,  carrying  a 
bible  on  his  shoulder,  and  read  as  he  walked,  and  meditated 
on  what  he  read,  or  sat  down,  with  the  bible  in  his  hand,  on 
the  hollow  trunk  of  a  tree. 

On  Sundays  and  feast  days,  he  gladly  retired  to  a  cave  or 
some  other  secret  place,  and  gave  himself  up  entirely  to 
prayer,  and  meditation  on  Divine  things. 

Such  was  the  reverence  in  which  he  was  held,  that  persons 
of  all  ranks  flocked  to  him,  and  committed  themselves  to  his 
guidance,  or  brought  their  sons  to  him  for  education.  The 
number  of  monks  was  so  great  that  one  convent  was  not  suf- 
ficient, and  they  were  obliged  to  build  two  others,  which 
were  also  located  in  forests — Luxeuil,  in  Franche  Cornt^,  and 
Fontenay. 


•   COLUMBAN.  469 

It  strikes  us  singnlarlj  that  these  men  should  thus  have 
retired  from  the  world,  for  the  purpose  of  doing  good,  when 
a  holy  life  among  people  would  have  so  increased  and  widened 
their  influence ;  but  we  must  remember  they  belonged  to  a 
less  enlightened  age  than  this,  when,  even  the  best  of  men 
were  somewhat  tinctured  with  superstition. 

As  the  highest  object  to  'w^hich  all  the  monastic  regulations 
of  Columban  were  adapted  to  form  those  who  were  placed 
under  his  guidance,  he  regarded  self-denial,  the  total  surrender 
of  the  will  to  God.  In  his  instructions  to  the  monks,  he 
says  many  admirable  things  respecting  this  highest  aim  of 
internal  improvement,  this  great  concern  of  christian  sancti- 
fication,  the  one  thing  needful :  "  Whoever  overcomes  him- 
self, treads  the  world  under  foot.  ISIo  one  who  spares 
himself  can  hate  the  world.  We  must  willingly  surrender 
for  Christ's  sake  what  we  love  out  of  Christ.  First  of  all,  if 
it  is  necessary,  our  bodily  life  must  be  surrendered  by 
martyrdom  for  Christ.  Or  if  the  opportunity  be  wanting  for 
such  blessedness,  the  mortification  of  the  will  must  not  fail,  so 
that  they  who  live  henceforth,  live  not  unto  themselves,  but 
unto  Him  who  died  for  them. 

"  Let  us  be  Christ's,  not  our  own ;  we  are  bought  at  a  dear 
price,  truly  so ;  for  the  Master  gave  himself  for  the  servant, 
the  king  for  his  attendants,  God  for  man." 

Although  these  quotations  express  the  genuine  spirit  of 
christian  self-denial  combined  with  love,  yet  this  spirit  did 
not  show  itself  unalloyed  in  the  monastic  institutions  that 
were  founded  by  Columban. 

Though  love  predominated  in  his  own  disposition,  and  he 
strove  to  train  his  monks  to  the  free  love  of  the  children  of 
God,  yet  they  were  subjected  to  a  severe  legal  discipline. 
They  were  obliged  to  exercise  self-denial  in  the  total  annihi- 
lation of  their  own  will,  in  slavish  subjection  to  a  foreign  hu- 
man will,  which  presented  itself  to  them  only  as  the  organ  of 
the  Lord  for  their  guidance. 

As  instruments  without  wills  of  their  own,  they  were  to 
serve  their  superiors,  in  whom  they  believed  that  they  saw 
the  Lord  himself,  who  guided  them  by  their  means. 


470 


COLUMB  AN. 


It  was  this  spirit  of  making  religion  a  matter  of  outward 
regulation,  of  mechanical  obedience,  wliicli  prevailed  in  the 
ages  before  the  Reformation,  until  at  that  period  the  sign  was 
given  of  the  restoration  of  the  liberty  gained  by  Christ  for 
his  people. 

True  humility  refers  itself  to  our  relation  to  God  in  a  sense 
that  is  applicable  to  no  creature  whatever. 

He  who  humbles  himself  before  God,  for  that  very  reason, 
humbles  himself  before  no  man,  though  ready  to  serve  every 
man  on  his  own  stand-point  in  free  love.  He  who  bows  his 
knee  before  God,  bows  it,  for  that  reason,  before  no  man. 

The  spirit  of  trae  freedom  is  gi'ounded  in  genuine  humility; 
as  the  apostle  says :  "  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price ;  be  not  the 
servants  of  men."  According  to  that  false  conception  of  a 
mind  fettered  by  externals,  as  man,  instead  of  subjecting  his 
own  will  to  God  alone  with  inward  self-renunciation,  and  let- 
ting himself  act  in  the  free  self-determination  of  his  own 
spirit,  makes  his  own  will  subject  to  another  man,  by  whom 
he  lets  himself  be  determined  in  all  things, — the  very  oppo- 
site of  that  line  of  conduct  which  the  apostle  enjoins  in  those 
words. 

Columban,  in  his  instructions  to  those  under  his  care,  gives 
them  the  consolation  that  by  thai  blind  obedience  they  ob- 
tained so  much  greater  rest  and  security,  since,  in  every  thing 
which  they  did  by  the  command  of  another,  they  were  free 
from  responsibility,  and  the  blame  would  fall  on  the  individual 
from  whom  they  had  received  commands,  according  to  his 
calling,  while  their  calling  was  only  to  obey.  This  gratifies 
the  indolence  of  man,  who  would  gladly  be  exempted  from 
personal  conflict,  and  from  that  personal  probation  to  which 
he  is  destined. 

But  the  Divine  plan  of  educating  the  human  race  is  contrary 
to  this,  since  man,  having  reached  his  majority,  must  attain 
by  means  of  Christianity,  walking  in  the  light  of  his  God, 
freely  to  prove  all  things  with  an  enlightened  reason,  accord- 
ing to  the  word  of  God,  and  to  determine  his  conduct  accord- 
ing to  the  law  inscribed  by  th«!  Spirit  on  his  regenerated 
heart,  apart  from  outward  guardianship. 


COLUMBAN. 


471 


What  Columban  prescribes  to  his  pupils  as  their  aim,  "that 
man  should  always  be  dependent  on  the  mouth  of  another," 
IS  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  genius  of  Christianity,  which 
teaches  man  to  depend  only  on  the  mouth  of  God.  It  is  al- 
ways a  perilous  matter  to  attempt  to  break  the  will  of  man 
by  the  strict  discipline  that  was  employed  in  the  instance  be- 
fore us ;  for  the  human  will  can  only  be  truly  subjected  and 
transformed  by  the  power  of  God,  by  the  might  of  love,  act- 
ing inwardly,  so  that,  giving  itself  up  in  its  self-hood,  it  re- 
gains itself  in  a  higher  manner,  as  the  renovated  organ  of  the 
Divine  will.  Frequently  from  the  point  of  view  assumed  by 
the  monkish  S3^stem,  the  striving  after  a  proper  free  develop- 
ment, which  is  implanted  in  a  rational  being,  created  after  the 
likeness  of  God, — the  feeling  that  stirs  powerfully  in  the 
breast  of  the  young  that  he  is  created  for  God's  likeness  and 
glory,  becomes  confounded  with  a  sinful,  self-seeking  striving, 
which  indeed  early  attaches  itself  to  it.  Thus,  the  despotic 
compulsion  which  can  not  distinguish  one  from  the  other,  by 
powerfully  repressing  the  proper,  free  development,  produces 
a  crippled,  stunted  being.  The  self-will,  which  is  not  to  be 
subdued  by  human  power,  may  either  give  birth  to  a  proud 
high-mindedness,  called  forth  into  so  much  unbending  oppo- 
sition by  the  compulsion  from  without ;  or,  if  the  self-will  be 
broken,  all  fresh,  proper  life  is  destroyed,  and  there  remains 
an  obtuse,  slavish  spirit,  unsusceptible  of  every  thing  higher ; 
or,  such  a  distortion  is  the  result  that,  with  that  slavish  spirit 
is  combined  a  pride,  veiled  in  the  garb  of  humility, — that 
sham  humility  of  which  Paul  speaks  in  Col.  ii.,  23. 

In  this  respect,  what  Anselm,  of  Canterbury,  at  the  end  of 
the  eleventh  century,  said  against  the  rigid  monastic  discipline 
is  admirable. 

An  abbot  complained,  in  conversation  with  him,  of  the  in 
corrigible  youths,  who  would  not  be  amended  by  all  the  cor- 
rection he  administered. 

Anselm  replied:  "You  never  cease  beating  the  boys,  and 
what  sort  of  men  will  they  be  when  they  grow  up  ?  " 

"  Stupid  and  brutish,"  answered  the  abbot. 

"A  good  sign  for  your  method  of  education,"  said  Anselm, 


472 


C  OLUMB  AN, 


"  when  you  educate  men  into  brutes !  "  The  abbot  answered, 
"Is  that  our  fault?  We  try  to  compel  them,  in  all  manner 
of  ways,  to  be  better,  and  effect  nothing."  "You  compel 
them?"  answered  Anselm ;  "tell  me,  then,  I  pray  you,  if 
you  planted  a  tree  in  your  garden,  and  enclosed  it  on  all 
sides,  so  that  it  could  not  spread  out  its  branches  in  any  di- 
rection, and,  after  some  years,  transplant  it  in  an  open  space, 
what  kind  of  tree  would  it  become  ?  Certainly  an  useless 
one;  with  crooked,  tangled  branches.  And  whose  fault 
would  it  be  but  yours,  who  trained  the  tree  in  this  over-com- 
pulsory manner  ?  " 

But,  to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  Columban,  we  ought 
not  to  forget  under  what  circumstances  he  lived,  what  men 
he  had  to  form,  and  with  what  difficulties  he  had  to  combat. 

Multitudes  of  men  were  to  be  governed,  to  be  rescued  from 
the  prevailing  wildness  and  licentiousness,  and  to  be  trained 
to  industry,  to  the  endurance  of  difficulties  and  privations  of 
all  kinds,  and,  as  the  highest  end  of  all,  to  a  truly  spiritual 
life,  devoted  to  God  in  self-renunciation. 

He  himself  says,  in  a  letter :  "  We  must  reach  the  city  of 
the  living  God  by  the  right  way,  through  chastisement  of  the 
flesh,  contrition  of  heart,  labor  of  body,  and  humiliation  of 
spirit,  and  through  our  striving,  while  we  do  what  is  our  duty, 
not  as  if  we  could  merit  any  thing,  and,  what  is  more  than 
all,  through  the  grace  of  Christ,  faith,  hope  and  love." 

He  says :  "  Let  the  monk  live  in  a  convent,  under  the  dis- 
cipline of  a  father,  and  in  fellowship  with  many  others ;  that 
from  the  former  he  may  learn  humility,  and  by  means  of  the 
latter,  patience ;  by  the  one  he  may  learn  silent  obedience, 
by  the  others  gentleness ;  let  him  not  do  his  own  will ;  let 
him  eat  what  is  offered  him ;  let  him  have  just  as  rduch  as  he 
receives ;  let  him  fulfill  the  day's  work  prescribed  to  him ; 
let  him  go  to  bed  weary ;  let  him  go  to  sleep  while  traveling, 
and,  although  he  has  not  slept  enough,  let  him  be  compelled 
to  get  up ;  when  he  suffers  unjustly,  let  him  be  silent ;  let 
him  fear  the  superior  of  the  convent  as  a  master,  and  love 
him  as  a  father." 

With  all  this  strictness  of  discipline,  a  spirit  of  paternal 


COLUMBAN.  473 

love  animated  tlie  abbot,  and  hence,  as  we  see  from  his  early 
life,  many  were  attached  to  his  person. 

He  always  kept  this  end  in  view,  so  to  train  those  about 
him,  that  this  punctilious  arrangement  should  not  become 
dead  and  mechanical ;  that  this  strict  discipline  should  not  be 
an  insupportable  burden,  but  become  a  second  nature,  and 
that  every  thing  should  be  easy  to  them  through  the  spirit  of 
love  and  resignation. 

"If  they  learn  the  humility  of  Christ,"  said  he,  "his  yoke 
will  be  easy,  his  burden  will  be  light.  Heart-humility  is  the 
repose  of  a  soul  wearied  by  its  conflict  with  corrupt  inclina- 
tions, its  inward  pain.  It  is  its  only  refuge  from  so  many 
evils,  and  the  more  completely  it  collects  itself  into  this  state 
from  perpetual  distraction  with  outward  vanities,  so  much 
more  entire  is  its  repose ;  and  it  is  refreshed  within,  so  that 
even  the  bitter  is  sweet,  and  what  before  was  too  hard  and 
too  heavy  for  it." 

Columban's  instructions  show  an  endeavor  to  bring  Divine 
things  close  to  the  mind,  and  if  we  see  how  easily  those  who 
had  to  gain  their  daily  bread  by  hard  labor, — how  easily, 
under  the  endurance  of  daily  toil  and  earthly  anxieties,  they 
would  forget  the  higher  objects  of  the  mind  and  heart,  so 
much  more  worthy  of  honor  must  that  man  appear  who 
sought  to  operate  on  these  men  by  the  power  of  Christianity, 
that  in  the  midst  of  their  conflict  with  their  native  rudeness, 
they  might  regard  the  highest  interests  of  the  inner  man  as 
most  important  for  themselves  and  others,  and  to  avail  them- 
selves of  that  daily  conflict,  as  a  means  of  exercising  self  de- 
nial, resignation  to  God,  and  unconditional  trust  in  Him.  One 
time,  after  laying  the  foundation  of  the  convent  of  Fontaines, 
Columban  saw  sixty  monks  toiling  with  hoes,  to  loosen  the 
soil,  in  order  to  prepare  it  for  the  future  sowing,  while  only 
a  small  quantity  of  provisions  to  satisfy  the  hunger  and  thirst 
occasioned  by  this  severe  labor,  was  in  the  magazine  of  the 
convent. 

How  much  was  implied  here! 

Here  we  see  the  power  of  faith,  which  can  remove  moun- 
tains.    Others  would  have  lost  all  pleasure  and  power  for 


474  COLUMBAN. 

labor  under  such  great  difficulties  and  gloomy  prospects,  but 
Columban's  strong  faith  inspired  those  who  were  under  him, 
with  courage  and  power. 

They  would  experience  that  faith  multiplies  what  a  man 
has,  and  can  create  means  where  they  are  wanting,  since  it 
fills  the  heart  of  man  with  courage,  power,  and  joy ;  as,  on 
the  contrary,  unbelieving  despondency  lessens  the  gifts  of 
God,  since  it  weakens  power,  makes  earthly  wants  doubly 
felt,  and  when  the  soul  is  given  up  to  this  feeling,  it  sinks 
down  to  earth,  and  adds  anxiety  for  the  future  to  the  desti- 
tution of  the  present  moment. 

Columban  every  where  expresses  his  ardent  love  for  his 
Redeemer. 

"Let  no  one,"  he  says,  "live  to  himself,  but  let  every  one 
live  only  to  Christ.  If  thou  truly  lovest  Christ,  then  seek 
not  thy  own,  but  his  honor.  Love  not  thyself,  nor  the  world, 
but  Christ  alone." 

He  requires  of  the  true  monk,  that  he  should  unite  stead- 
fastness and  power,  with  gentleness  and  humility,  in  the  con- 
flict for  truth  and  righteousness  against  the  high  and  mighty 
ones  of  the  world, — that  he  should  be  ready  to  contend  for 
what  is  essential — ^that  he  should  be  humble  toward  those 
who  are  cast  down,  but  honestly  oppose  the  high-minded, — 
that  he  should  be  bold  in  the  cause  of  truth — that  he  should 
show  himself  obliging  and  compliant  toward  the  good,  but 
invincible  in  conflict  with  the  wicked. 

In  this  spirit,  Columban  himself  acted,  in  contending  for 
christian  freedom  and  christian  moral  discipline. 

By  his  zeal  for  the  latter,  and  against  the  irregularities 
which  had  spread  among  the  Frankish  churches,  and  by  his 
frankness,  he  necessarily  made  himself  many  enemies  among 
persons  of  influence,  both  ecclesiastics  and  laymen,  who 
gladly  availed  themselves  of  an  opportunity  to  get  rid  of  so 
troublesome  a  person. 

He  had  brought  with  him  several  peculiar  usages  of  the 
Romish  church,  which  had  been  universally  adopted  in  those 
parts.  As  his  convents  in  the  forests  formed  a  secluded 
whole,  unconnected  with   others,    he  wished   to  follow  the 


COLUMBAN.  475 

practices  of  his  fathers,  and  not  to  submit  to  the  prevalent 
practice  of  the  church. 

He  might,  indeed,  have  conceded  certain  external  things, 
not  of  any  importance  in  themselves,  for  the  sake  of  secur- 
ing what  was  more  essential ;  but  it  was  an  object  of  some 
importance  to  him,  to  place  himself  in  opposition  to  an  arro- 
gant ecclesiastical  authority,  which  refused  to  acknowledge 
the  rights  of  christian  liberty,  and  aimed  by  its  enactments, 
to  force  an  uniformity  in  outAvard  things.  His  enemies  gladly 
availed  themselves  of  this  departure  from  the  prevailing 
church  usages,  to  excite  a  prejudice  against  him. 

He  by  no  means  wished  to  introduce  all  the  usages  relating 
to  Divine  worship  which  he  had  brought  from  Ireland,  though 
he  believed  they  were  preferable ;  all  he  desired  was,  that  he 
should  be  at  liberty  to  follow  his  own  method  with  the  con- 
vents under  his  superintendence. 

With  christian  frankness,  subjecting  himself  to  no  human 
authority  in  matters  of  religion,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  Gregory  the  Great. 

He  called  on  him  not  to  bind  himself  by  the  authority  of 
the  earlier  Roman  bishops,  but  to  examine  freely,  and  to  adopt 
whatever  he  found  to  be  best.  "  In  such  a  matter,"  he  wrote 
to  him,  "  you  must  not  depend  merely  on  your  humility,  or 
the  dignity  of  the  person,  which  often  deceives.  In  such 
inquiries,  perhaps,  "a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead 
lion. 

Living  saints  may  improve  what  had  not  been  improved 
by  a  greater  than  themselves  in  a  former  age." 

Gregory,  in  a  case  which  required  a  free  examination  of 
the  truth,  was  not  justified  in  a  humility  which  would  not 
permit  him  to  submit  the  enactments  of  his  predecessors  to  a 
fresh  examination. 

At  a  later  period,  he  wrote  to  the  Roman  bishop,  Boniface 
IV.,  saying,  that  as  they  were  connected  with  one  another  by 
unity  of  faith, — since  they  agreed  in  believing  with  the  heart, 
and  confessing  with  the  mouth,  one  Father  in  Heaven,  of 
whom  are  all  things,  and  one  Redeemer,  the  Son  of  God, 
through  whom  are  all  things,  and  one  Holy  Spirit,  in  whom 


476  COLUMBAN. 

are  all  things,  lie  hoped  it  might  be  granted  to  him  and  his 
associates,  without  injury  to  the  peace  of  the  church,  to 
continue  in  their  own  usages ;  as  in  former  times,  Poly- 
carp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  and  Anicetus,  bishop  of  Eome, 
\Ti  ithout  injury  to  the  faith,  separated  from  one  another  with 
uninterrupted  loves,  and  each  one  adhered  to  the  customs  he 
had  received. 

About  the  year  602,  a  Frankish  synod  was  held  to  delibe- 
rate on  this  matter,  and  Columban  addressed  an  epistle  to  it, 
full  of  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  church. 

As,  partly  owing  to  political  disturbances  in  the  kingdom 
of  the  Franks,  and  partly  to  the  remissness  of  the  bishops, 
who  had  involved  themselves  too  much  in  worldly  concerns, 
the  salutary  institution  of  provincial  synods  had  been  for  a 
long  time  neglected,  Columban  thanked  God  that  the  disputes 
with  him  had  led  to  summoning  such  a  synod  ;  and  he  prayed 
God  to  grant  that  they  might,  on  this  occasion,  be  occupied 
with  more  important  things  relative  to  faith  and  practice. 
On  this  occasion  he  asserted,  with  all  respect  to  his  opponents, 
the  great  truth  that  if  they  did  not  evince  by  their  lives  that 
they  had  heard  the  true  voice  of  the  Shepherd,  and  follow 
him,  they  could  not  expect  that  those  words  which  they 
uttered  only  as  hirelings  could  meet  with  obedience. 

An  attack  from  another  quarter  led  to  important  conse- 
quences for  Columban.  He  was  held  •  in  great  respect  by 
Thierry  II.,  the  King  of  Burgundy,  where  his  convents  were 
situated.  He  availed  himself  of  this  to  administer  reproof 
to  the  king,  on  account  of  his  voluptuous  life,  and  to  urge 
him  to  a  better  course.  But  his  influence  on  this  side  came 
into  collision  with  the  policy  of  the  powerful  grandmother 
of  this  prince,  Brunehault — and  she  laid  a  plan,  with  the  no- 
bles and  prelates,  to  whom  Columban's  proximity  had  long 
been  offensive,  to  drive  him  away.  It  was  not  his  manner  to 
evade  the  machinations  that  were  formed  against  him. 

In  accordance  with  his  maxim  "  to  be  bold  in  the  cause  of 
truth,  and  unconquerable  by  evil,"  he  met  the  plot  with  un- 
bending firmness.  At  last,  after  five  and  twenty  years  of  ac 
tivity,  he  was  banished  from  the  country  in  the  year  610. 


'Jk^ 


COLUMBAN.  477 

Orders  were  at  first  given  that  he  should  be  sent  back  to  Ire- 
land, but  peculiar  circumstances  prevented  their  execution. 

In  his  journeying  through  France,  he  met  with  many  con- 
solatory proofs  that  God  was  with  him. 

When  he  had  arrived  with  his  followers  at  the  city  of  Nan- 
tes and  was  occupied  with  meditating  in  his  cell,  a  beggar 
came  before  it.  Columban  caused  the  last  measure  of  meal 
in  his  stores  to  be  given  to  the  hungry  man. 

The  two  following  days  he  was  obliged  to  contend  with 
want  himself,  and  continued  joj^ful  in  faith  and  hope,  when 
suddenly  some  one  knocked  at  the  door,  and  it  was  the  ser- 
vant of  a  pious  female  of  the  city,  whom  she  had  sent  with 
a  considerable  supply  of  corn  and  wine  for  him. 

From  Nantes  he  wrote  an  epistle  full  of  paternal  love  uo 
those  he  had  left  behind  in  France,  in  which  he  exhorted 
them  to  unity  and  humility. 

He  then  withdrew  into  Switzerland,  near  Tuggen  and  Pi-e- 
gentia,  where  he  labored  several  years  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Suevi  and  Alemanni. 

Afterward  he  went  to  Italy  and  established,  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  Apennines,  the  famous  monastery  of  Bobbio,  where 
he  found  rest  for  the  last  years  of  his  life. 

Still  he  was  active  to  the  last,  in  order  to  compose  an  ec- 
clesiastical division  which  had  existed  in  Italy  from  ancient 
times. 

The  Emperor  Justinian,  who,  by  his  indiscreet  and  des- 
potic interference  in  church  affairs,  by  his  strong  inclination 
to  exercise  his  imperial  power  in  making  theologians  instead 
of  faithfully  fulfilling  the  duties  of  his  ofl&ce,  had  caused  such 
great  disorders  in  the  Greek  church,  had  also  allowed  himself 
to  be  moved,  by  the  intrigues  of  a  troublesome  theological 
court-faction,  publicly  to  brand  as  heretical  the  memory  of 
the  three  great  Syrian  fathers  of  the  church,  Theodoras, 
Thesdoret,  and  Ibas,  and  the  vascillating,  weak-minded  Eo- 
man  bishop,  Vigilius,  had  allowed  himself  to  be  compelled 
to  favor  the  foolish  undertaking  of  the  emperor. 

As  the  later  Eoman  bishops  followed  the  decision  of  their 
predecessor,  a  division  of  the  church  in  Italy  was  the  conse 


478  COLUMBAN. 

quence  ;  for  several  cliurches  in  Istria  and  tlie  Venetian  ter- 
ritory disapproved  of  this  decision. 

Many  accusations  against  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Eoman 
church  were  occasioned  by  it. 

Columban  now  wrote  a  very  respectful,  but  at  the  same 
time  very  frank  epistle,  to  Pope  Boniface  IV.,  in  which  he  re- 
quired from  him  an  unprejudiced  examination  of  this  affair, 
and  pressed  upon  him  to  take  measures  for  restoriug  the 
peace  of  the  church, 

"Watch,"  he  writes  to  him,  "  first  of  all  over  the  faith,  and 
then  to  command  the  works  of  faith,  and  to  root  out  vices  ; 
for  your  vigilance  will  be  the  salvation  of  many.' 

Our  concern  here  is  not  persons,  but  the  truth. 

As  in  virtue  of  the  dignity  of  your  church,  you  are  held 
in  great  honor ;  you  need  to  take  greater,  not  to  lessen  your 
dignity  by  any  aberration ;  for  the  power  will  remain  with 
you  as  long  as  you  are  in  the  right  way.  He  is  a  true  key 
bearer  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  who  by  true  knowledge 
opens  it  to  the  worthy,  and  shuts  it  against  the  unworthy." 

Then  follows  a  beautiful  exhortation  which  applies  to  so 
many  divisions  which  arise  from  laying  greater  stress  on  sub- 
ordinate differences  than  on  unity  in  the  essentials  of  faith, 
and  thus  the  bond  of  love  was  broken. 

"  Quickly  return,"  says  he,  "to  unity,  and  not  prolong  old 
controversies  ;  but  rather  be  silent,  and  consign  these  contro- 
versies to  everlasting  oblivion. 

"  When  any  thing  is  doubtful,  reserve  it  for  the  decision  of 
God.  But  what  is  clear,  or  what  man  can  judge,  decide 
justly  upon  it  without  respect  of  persons. 

"Mutually  acknowledge  one  another,  that  there  may  be  joy 
in  heaven  and  earth  over  your  peace  and  union." 

He  thus  continued  fruitful  in  works  of  faith  and  labors  of 
love,  till  he  died  in  his  seventy-second  year,  or  a  little  older, 
after  having  in  the  course  of  an  active  and  very  laborious  life, 
scattered  the  seeds  of  christian  knowledge  in  France,  Swit- 
zerland and  Italy ;  and,  by  the  scholars  whom  he  left  behind 
him,  made  provision  for  its  still  wider  propagation  in  suc- 
ceeding ages. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

SUCCESS  OF  GALLUS  PROMOTED  BY  HIS  FAMILIAR  INTERCOURSE  WITH  THE 
PEOPLE;    FOUNDS  AN  INSTITUTION,  AND  BECOMES  A  TEACHER. 

MONGr  the  scholars  whom  Columban  brought 
with  him  from  Ireland  to  France,  Gallus  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished. 

He  was  early  intrusted  by  his  parents  to  that 
venerable  teacher,  to  be  educated  for  the  service 
of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Columban,  as  we  have  seen,  was  a 
zealous  student  of  the  Scriptures,  and  deeply  imbued  the 
mind  of  youth  with  a  love  for  acquaintance  with  the  sacred 
volume. 

He  knew  how  to  discourse  from  the  Scriptures  with  sim- 
plicity and  fervor,  and  to  apply  the  Word  to  the  hearts  of  men. 

When  with  his  associates,  he  met  with  a  hospitable  recep- 
tion from  pious  persons,  and  after  laying  down  his  luggage, 
wished  to  have  some  portion  of  Scripture  read ;  he  called  on  his 
favorite  scholar,  Gallus,  to  perform  this  office,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  explain  what  was  read. 

When,  they  took  up  their  residence  among  the  ruins  of  the 
ancient  castle  of  Bregenz,  they  met  with  an  old  dilapidated 
chapel,  which  they  resolved  to  consecrate  for  christian  wor- 
ship, and  in  which  they  constructed  their  cells. 

But  they  found  in  that  chapel  three  gilded  images  of  idols 
which  the  pagans  worshipped  as  tutelary  divinities. 

As  Gallus,  during  his  residence  in  the  Frankish  territory, 
had  made  himself  well  acquainted  with  the  German  language, 
Columban  permitted  him  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  a  numerous 
multitude  who  had  flocked  together  to  witness  the  consecra- 
tion. 

It  is  indeed  a  true  saying  of  Luther's,  "It  is  God's  work 
alone  to  banish  idols  from  the  human  heart ;  whatever  comes 
from  without  is  a  farce  " 


480  GALLUS,    THE  APOSTLE. 

If  men  are  deprived,  of  some  of  their  idols,  tliey  will  man- 
ufacture others. 

But  when  the  preaching  of  Divine  grace  opens  a  way  to 
the  heart,  it  will  facilitate,  if  the  sensible  impression  to  which 
idolatry  cleaves  be  taken  away. 

Thus  Gallus  confirmed  the  impression  that  his  discourse 
made,  by  dasliing  in  pieces  the  images  before  the  eyes  of  the 
wild  pagan  multitude,  and  thus  giving  them  ocular  demon- 
stration of  the  nothingness  and  weakness  of  their  false  gods. 

At  this  place  the  people  occupied  themselves  with  garden- 
ing and  planting  fruit  trees.  Gallus  wove  nets,  and  attended 
to  fishing. 

His  success  was  so  great  that  he  not  only  supplied  those 
about  him,  but  entertained  strangers,  and  made  many  pres- 
ents. A  similar  instance  is  given  in  the  life  of  Bishop  Wil- 
fred, who  preached  the  Gospel  in  Sussex,  toward  the  close 
of  the  seventh  century.  When  he  first  went  there,  a  famine 
prevailed;  the  sea  and  the  rivers  were  full  of  fish,  but  the 
people  only  knew  how  to  catch  eels.  He  collected  all  the 
nets,  and  instructed  them  in  fishing,  till  they  caught  three 
hundred  different  kinds.  One  hundred  of  these  he  kept  for 
his  own  j)eople,  a  hundred  he  gave  to  the  owners  of  the  net, 
and  the  remaining  hundred  to  the  poor. 

By  this  means  he  won  the  love  of  the  people ;  and  as  they 
were  so  much  indebted  to  him  for  their  temporal  welfare,  they 
listened  to  him  more  willingly  when  he  discoursed  of  heav- 
enly things. 

When  they  were  expelled  from  the  region,  and  the  Abbot 
Columban  was  proceeding  to  Italy,  Gallus  was  prevented 
from  following  him  by  illness  ;  and  this  circumstance  proved 
a  great  blessing  to  the  people  among  whom  he  had  been  resid- 
ing ;  for  otherwise  Gallus  would  not  have  been  to  them  what 
he  actually  became. 

Being  thus  left  behind,  he  betook  himself  with  his  fishing 
nets  to  a  priest  named  Willimar,  who  lived  in  an  old  castle, 
and  had  already  received  him  hospitably  with  Columban,  and 
assigned  them  their  residences. 

After  he  had  been  restored  to  health  by  this  person's  affec- 


GALLUS,   THE    APOSTLE.  481 

tionate  care,  he  wished  to  find  out  a  place  in  the  forest  for 
building  and  cultivating. 

He,  therefore,  applied  to  the  deacon,  Hillibald,  whose  busi- 
ness it  was  to  supply  his  people  with  fish  and  birds,  Avho 
hence  frequently  traversed  the  woods,  and  was  well  acquaint- 
ed with  the  paths.  In  company  with  him,  he  wished  to  find 
out  a  suitable  place  for  building,  with  good  water. 

The  deacon  gave  him  a  fearful  description  of  the  multi- 
tude of  wild  beasts  in  the  forest ;  but  Gallus  ansAvered  him, 
with  the  confidence  of  one  who  thought  himself  scripturally 
right,  saying,  "  It  is  an  expression  of  the  apostles,  *  If  God 
be  for  us,  who  can  be  against  us  ?'  " 

Has  he  not  said  that  "  all  things  work  together  for  good  to 
thein  that  love  God  ;"  and  He  who  preserved  Daniel  in  the 
lion's  den  can  deliver  me  from  the  power  of  the  wild  beasts." 

**  Put  only  some  bread  and  a  little  net  in  your  knapsack," 
said  the  deacon,  "  to-morrow  I  will  take  you  into  the  forest, 
that  God,  who  has  brought  you  here  to  us  from  a  distant 
land,  will  also  send  his  angel  with  us,  as  he  once  did  with 
Tobias,  and  show  us  a  place  answering  to  your  pious  wishes." 

Gallus  prepared  himself  for  his  journey,  as  every  true 
christian  would,  with  prayer.  When  they  had  traveled  till 
two  or  three  o'clock,. Hillibald  said,  "let  us  now  take  some 
bread  and  watei;,  that  we  may  be  strengthened  to  pursue  the 
rest  of  our  way."  Gallus  answered,  "  Do  what  is  necessary 
for  your  own  strengthening  ;  I  am  resolved  to  taste  nothing, 
till  God  has  pointed  out  to  me  the  desired  place  of  rest." 
But  the  deacon  answered,  "  No  ;  we  will  share  the  discom- 
fort together,  and  then  the  joy." 

They  proceeded  till  toward  evening,  when  they  came  to  a 
stream,  full  of  fish,  where  they  succeeded  in  taking  a  quan- 
tity, when  the  deacon  made  a  fire,  broiled  some,  and  prepared 
his  bread. 

Meanwhile,  Gallus,  more  intent  upon  heavenly  manna,  had 
retired  to  a  thicket  for  spiritual  contemplation  and  prayer. 
Thus  engaged,  he  accidentally  fell,  which  circumstance  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  deacon,  who  hastened  to  help  him ; 
but  he  refused  his  aid,  saying,  *'  Let  m.e  alone ;  this  is  my 

31 


482  GALLUS,THE    APOSTLE. 

resting-place  for  life :  here  will  I  dwell."  He  consecrated 
the  place  by  prayer,  and,  after  he  had  risen  up,  he  made  a 
cross  with  a  small  twig,  planted  it  in  the  earth,  around  which 
they  both  knelt  to  pray.  On  this  spot  was  erected  a  build- 
ing, afterward  called  by  his  name,  in  which  he  labored  for  the 
education  of  youth,  by  whom  the  seeds  of  christian  knowl- 
edge were  scattered  abroad  still  wider,  and  temporal  and  spir- 
itual benefits  diffused  among  the  people. 

When  he  received  presents  from  wealthy  individuals,  he 
assembled  crowds  of  poor  people  in  the  district,  and  distrib- 
uted among  them  what  he  had  thus  obtained. 

On  one  such  occasion,  one  of  his  scholars  said  to  him  : 
"  My  father,  I  have  a  costly  silver  vessel,  beautifully  en- 
chased ;  if  you  approve,  I  will  reserve  it,  that  it  may  be  used 
at  the  Lord's  Supper,"  But  Gallus  answered :  "  My  son, 
think  of  Peter's  words,  '  Gold  and  silver  have  I  none ;'  and, 
in  order  that  you  may  not  act  contrary  to  so  wholesome  an 
example,  hasten  and  dispose  of  it  for  the  good  of  the  poor ; 
my  teacher,  Columban,  used  to  distribute  the  Lord's  body  in 
a  vessel  of  brass." 

The  vacant  bishopric  of  Cosnitz  was  offered  to  Gallus,  but 
he  preferred  discharging  the  quiet  duties  of  a  teacher,  and, 
therefore,  declined  the  office. 

He  obtained  the  appointment  for  the  deacpn,  Johannes,  a 
native  of  the  country,  who  studied  the  Scriptures  under  him. 

At  the  consecration  of  the  bishop,  a  great  multitude  of 
persons  came  from  all  quarters,  when  Gallus  availed  himself 
of  the  opportunity  to  impress  upon  the  hearts  of  those  who 
had  recently  been  converted  to  Christianity,  the  love  of  God, 
as  exhibited  in  creation  and  redemption ;  and  to  trace,  in  a 
connected  manner,  the  leadings  of  God's  providence  for  the 
salvation  of  mankind. 

He  entered  the  pulpit  with  his  late  scholar,  Johannes,  who 
interpreted  to  the  people  in  German  a  discourse  which  he 
delivered  in  Latin. 

Speaking  of  the  creation,  he  said :  "  God  created  beings 
endowed  with  reason,  to  praise  him,  and  to  be  happy  from 
him  in  him,  and  through  him.      You  ought  to  know  the 


BONIFACE,  THE  APOSTLE. 


483 


cause  of  your  creation,  my  christian  brethren,  in  order  that 
you  may  not  regard  yourselves  as  reprobate  beings,  and  ab- 
dicate your  dignity  by  living  below  your  privilege." 

He  then  deduced  the  origin  of  evil  from  the  desire  of  ra- 
tional beings  to  have  in  themselves  the  ground  of  their  being, 
life  and  happiness ;  hence  arises  that  internal  emptiness, 
since  the  creature,  turning  away  from  the  fountain  of  life, 
and  left  to  itself,  must  fall  from  fullness  to  emptiness,  from 
reality  to  nothingness. 

Thus  was  the  fundamental  principle  of  the  christian  life, 
— union  with  Christ, — taught  by  this  man. 

No  extended  history  is  given  of  his  life,  nor  any  thing  of 
his  death ;  but,  doubtless,  he  who  observed  the  calls  of  Prov- 
idence while  in  the  world  bowed  submissively  to  the  heav- 
enly mandate  at  last,  rejoicing  to  close  the  scene  of  his 
earthly  labors  when  his  Divine  Master  had  nothing  more  for 
him  to  do,  and  pass  to  that  land  where  the  weary  spirit  finds 
grateful  rest,  yet  free  and  joyful  activity  in  a  better  and  more 
perfect  service. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

lonifate/tlje  apostle  d  i^t^muu. 

EARLY  TRAIMNG  AXD  STRONG  DESIRE  TO  PREACH  THE  GOSPEL ;   TEMPER 

OF  HIS  SPIRIT   INDICATED   IN   HIS  WRITINGS; 

MANNER  OF  HIS  DEATH. 

ONIFACE,  or  Winifred,  according  to  the  An- 
glo-Saxon, was  born  at  Crediton,  in  Devon- 
shire, in  the  year  680,  and  deserved  to  be  hon- 
ored as  the  father  of  the  German  church,  though 
he  was  by  no  means  the  first  who  brought  the 
seeds  of  the  gospel  into  Germany. 

Many  had  already  labored  in  that  field  before  him,  but  the 
efforts  of  scattered  and  isolated  individuals  were  not  suffi- 
cient to  secure  the  continued  propagation  of  Christianity. 


484 


BONIFACE,     THE     APOSTLE. 


Settled  ecclesiastical  institutions  required  to  be  added,  and 
this  was  first  effected  by  Boniface,  from  whose  agency  the 
salvation  of  so  many  proceeded,  even  down  to  the  present 
time. 

The  seeds  of  religion  were  early  developed  in  his  heart. 
As  in  England,  the  custom  had  been  kej)t  up,  which  was  in- 
troduced by  the  first  pious  Irish  missionaries,  for  the  clergy 
to  visit  the  houses  of  the  laity,  and  to  deliver  discourses  on 
religious  subjects  before  their  families ;  the  children,  in  such 
cases,  often  listened  attentively,  and  they  gladly  conversed 
with  them  on  the  things  of  religion.  His  father  tried  to  re- 
press his  inclination  for  the  ecclesiastical  profession,  as  he 
had  intended  him  for  a  post  of  secular  distinction. 

But,  as  it  often  happens,  the  inclination  which  his  father 
aimed  to  subdue  only  acquired  greater  force  ;  and,  at  last  the 
impression  of  a  severe  illness  induces  his  father  to  give  up 
further  opposition  to  his  son's  views. 

He  was,  therefore,  educated  in  several  English  convents, 
where  he  became  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, which  were  to  be  a  light  to  his  path  in  after  life,  among 
the  savage  tribes. 

His  mind  was  certainly  narrowed  during  this  period  by 
many  prejudices,  which  kept  him  from  the  pure  knowledge 
of  Scripture  doctrine,  and  which  must  necessarily  have  been 
a  hindrance  to  him  in  his  missionary  labors ;  for  the  more 
pure  and  free,  and  unmixed  with  human  schemes,  Christianity 
is,  the  more  easily  it  makes  its  way  into  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  the  more  easily  can  it  preserve  in  undiminished  vigor  its 
Divine  attractive  power  over  human  nature.^  • 

The  missionary  requires  especially  the  spirit  of  christian 
freedom,  that  he  may  not  obstruct  the  word  of  God  in  the 
soul  by  human  alloy,  or  prevent  Christ,  whose  organ  alone 
he  ought  to  be,  from  obtaining  in  every  nation  that  peculiar 
form  which  is  exactly  suitable  to  each  one. 

This  stand-point  Boniface  certainly  did  not  occupy,  and  it 
was,  during  this  whole  period,  unknown  in  the  development 
of  the  church. 

The  nations  were  obliged,  first  of  all,  to  receive  Christianity 


BONIFACE,    THE    APOSTLE.  485 

in  the  form  of  a  definite,  visible  church,  which  had  built 
many  foreign  materials  on  the  one  foundation,  which  is 
Christ,  and  to  admit  among  them  the  great  building  of  the 
Roman  church,  in  order  to  develop  themselves  under  its 
guardianship  to  the  maturity  of  manhood  in  Christ ;  but,  at 
last,  were  led  by  Luther  from  the  guardianship  of  the  church 
to  Christ,  whom  alRne  to  serve,  and  on  whom  alone  to 
depend  is  true  freedom. 

When  Boniface  had  completed  his  five  and  thirtieth  year, 
he  felt  himself  excited  by  the  example  of  other  missionaries 
among  his  countrymen  to  carry  the  message  of  the  gospel  to 
the  heathen. 

What  would  have  become  of  our  fatherland,  if  God  had 
not  by  his  spirit  awakened  that  missionary  zeal,  especially  in 
England  and  Ireland  ?  And,  as  we  now  look  back  with 
gratitude  on  the  labors  of  those  heroes  of  the  faith,  to  whom 
we  owe  the  blessings  of  Christianity  and  of  all  mental  culture, 
so,  hereafter,  the  churches  gathered  from  among  the  heathen 
in  South  India,  Asia  and  Africa,  when  they  have  received 
through  Christianity  the  abundance  of  all  earthly  and 
heavenly  good,  will  look:  back  with  gratitude  on  the  com- 
mencing of  missionary  zeal  with  us  at  a  later  time. 

An  English  priest,  Egbert,  gave  the  first  impulse  to  this 
missionary  movement. 

In  a  dangerous  illness  he  made  a  vow,  that  if  his  life  were 
spared,  he  would  devote  it  to  the  service  of  the  Lord  among 
foreign  nations.  After  this,  he  decided,  with  several  of  his 
associates,  to  visit  the  German  tribes  ;  but  when  on  the  point 
of  sailing,  he  was  prevented,  by  several  circumstances,  from 
accompanying  them,  though  he  must  be  still  regarded  as  the 
prime  mover  in  the  undertaking. 

Boniface  himself  informs  us,  that  an  impulse  natural  to  his 
nation  contributed,  with  the  religious  interest,  to  impel  him 
to  missionary  labor — in  other  words,  a  passion  for  foreign 
travel,  and  the  fear  of  Christ,  as  he  expresses  it  in  one  of  his 
letters. 

He  terms  it  the  fear  of  Christ,  since  he  regarded  it  as  a 
debt  due  to  the  heathen,  an  obligation  laid  upon  him  by 


486  BONIFACE,    THE    APOSTLE. 

Christ,  wliicli  he  believed  himself  bound  to  fulfill ;  he  would 
have  exclaimed  with  the  apostle  Paul,  "  Woe  is  me,  if  I  preach 
not  the  gospel!" 

First  of  all,  he  assisted  in  his  labors  the  zealous  Willibrord, 
one  of  those  missionaries  who  followed  the  impulse  given  by 
Egbert,  and  founded  the  church  in  East  Friesland,  and  the 
Netherlands,  • 

He  wished  to  have  retained  Boniface  near  him,  that  he 
might  be  his  successor  as  archbishop  of  Utrecht ;  but  he  de- 
clined compliance,  feeling  compelled  by  an  inward  call  to 
begin  a  fresh  work  among  the  heathen  tribes  of  Germany. 

The  value  he  set  upon  the  Holy  Scriptures  is  shown  in  the 
following  words,  addressed  to  a  young  man  in  his  native 
land,  whom  he  exhorted  to  a  study  of  the  Bible  :  "  Throw 
aside  every  thing  that  hinders  you,  and  direct  your  whole 
study  to  the  Holy  Scrij)tures,  and  there  seek  that  Divine 
wisdom  which  is  more  precious  than  gold ;  for  what  is  it 
more  seemly  in  youth  to  strive  after,  or  what  can  age  possess 
more  valuable  than  that  knowledge  which  will  guide  bur 
souls,  without  danger  of  being  shipwrecked  in  the  storm,  to 
the  shores  of  the  heavenly  Paradise,  to  the  eternal  joys  of 
angels  ?" 

To  an  abbess  who  had  sent  him  a  bible,  he  wrote  in  return, 
"  that  she  had  consoled  him  when  banished  to  Germany, 
with  spiritual  light ;  for  whoever  is  obliged  to  visit  the  dark 
corners  of  the  German  people  falls  into  the  jaws  of  death, 
unless  he  has  the  Word  of  God  as  a  lamp  to  his  feet,  and  a 
light  to  his  path." 

He  requested  his  old  friend,  Daniel,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
to  send  him  a  manuscrij)t  of  the  prophets,  left  behind  by  his 
deceased  abbot  and  teacher,  Wimbert,  which  was  written  in 
very  plain  and  distinct  characters.  **  If  God  incline  you  to 
grant  this  request,"  he  wrote  to  him,  "  you  can  render  no 
greater  comfort  to  my  old  age  ;  for  in  this  country  I  can  not 
obtain  such  a  manusci"ipt  as  I  wish  for,  and  with  my  already 
weak  eyesight  I  can  not  distinguish  small  and  closely-written 
characters." 

Boniface  availed  himself  of  the  aids  of  the  secular  power 


BONIFACE,    THE    APOSTLE.  487 

in  order  to  protect  his  churches  from  the  devastations  of  the 
rude  pagans ;  to  secure  the  lives  of  those  he  sent  for  to  his 
native  land ;  to  instruct  the  pagans,  and  to  educate  the 
converts. 

What  effect  he  could  produce  upon  uninstructed  men  by 
external  impressions,  is  shown  by  a  singular  incident : 

When  he  was  preaching  the  gospel  at  Hesse,  at  Geismar, 
in  the  department  of  Gudenburg,  a  sacred  oak  of  immense 
size,  and  dedicated  to  Thor,  the  god  of  thunder,  filled  the 
minds  of  the  people  with  the  greatest  awe,  and  powerfully 
counteracted  the  impressions  made  by  his  sermons. 

The  people  could  not  divest  themselves  of  their  belief  in 
the  Divine  power  of  this  oak  ;  and  hence,  though  the  dis- 
courses of  Boniface  might  take  a  momentary  effect  upon 
them,  they  quickly  relapsed  into  paganism.  By  the  advice 
of  some  Hessian  christians  he  went  with  a  few  of  his  associ- 
ates to  the  oak.  He  himself  began  to  hew  it  down  with  an 
axe,  while  a  crowd  of  infuriated  pagans  stood  around. 
When  they  saw  it  fall  asunder  in  four  parts,  and  that  their 
god  could  take  no  vengeance  on  Boniface,  their  delusion  was 
at  once  broken  up. 

In  order  to  perpetuate  the  impression  of  this  event,  Boni- 
face made  use  of  the  timber  of  this  tree  in  building  a  chapel. 

It  was  always  a  principal  object  with  Boniface  to  operate 
on  the  minds  of  the  young  by  religious  instruction  and  a 
christian  education. 

His  zealous  anxiety  for  the  educational  institutions  con- 
nected with  the  convents,  not  to  mention  other  proofs,  amply 
refuted  the  reproach  cast  upon  him,  that  he  had  effected  the 
outward  conversion  of  the  people  in  a  compulsory  manner, 
merely  by  the  secular  power,  though  he  did  not  refuse  it  as 
an  auxiliary  in  carrying  out  his  plans. 

He  deeply  felt  the  greatness  and  responsibility  of  his  call- 
ing as  archbishop  of  the  German  church ;  but  too  much  de- 
voted to  the  pope,  though  by  no  means  afraid  to  speak  the 
truth  to  him  candidly,  when  the  interests  of  the  newly 
planted  church  required  it. 

A  remnant  of  the  ancient  pagan  superstitious  usages  and 


488 


BONIFACE,    THE    APOSTLE, 


excesses  on  New-year's  day,  was  still  retained  at  Rome. 
Amulets  were  worn  by  the  women,  and  offered  for  sale.  As 
people  belonging  to  the  new  churches  frequently  visited 
Eome,  they  believed  that  such  abuses,  which  fell  under  the 
eyes  of  the  pope,  received  his  sanction,  and  consequently 
murmured  at  Boniface,  who  so  zealously  tried  to  suppress  all 
heathenish  superstitions  and  usages.  Boniface  made  strong 
representations  to  the  pope  on  the  subject.  "  Men  devoted 
to  the  senses,"  he  wrote  to  him,  "  ignorant  Germans,  Bavari- 
ans, or  Franks,  think,  if  they  see  any  of  those  evil  practices 
which  we  forbid,  indulged  in  at  Rome,  that  they  are  sanc- 
tioned by  the  priests ;  then  they  reproach  us,  and  are 
offended,  and  thus  our  preaching  and  instruction  are 
hindered." 

The  efficiency  of  Boniface  was,  however,  somewhat  im- 
paired, because  the  freedom  of  the  children  of  God,  in  its 
whole  extent,  was  not  known  to  him, — the  freedom  of  those 
who  are  dead  with  Christ  to  the  element  of  the  world,  whose 
life  no  more  belongs  to  this  world,  but  is  hid  with  Christ  in 
God,  belonging  to  heaven,  and  therefore  can  be  no  longer 
entangled  with  the  ordinances  of  this  world.  He  knew,  in- 
deed, the  ground  of  inward  Christianity,  and  possessed  it  in 
his  inner  life  ;  here  he  had  more  than  he  could  express  in 
words,  since  his  knowledge,  intellectually  considered,  was 
not  developed  in  proportion  to  his  life  of  faith. 

He  built  on  the  right  foundation,  which  is  Christ,  and 
therefore  his  work  as  being  Divine,  would  stand  and  develop 
itself  through  Divine  power  in  succeeding  ages,  and  would 
be  purified  in  the  fire ;  but  on  this  foundation  he  had  built 
not  pure  gold  alone,  but  also  wood,  hay  and  stubble.  Yet  it 
must  be  said,  in  his  behalf,  that  he  was  not  the  author  of 
this  mixture  of  heterogeneous  materials,  but  it  belonged  to 
his  age. 

The  fire  kindled  by  the  Lord  at  the  Reformation  was 
requisite  to  consume  these  foreign  things,  so  that  the 
foundation  might  shine  forth  with  its   genuine  lustre. 

The  language  in  which  Paul  addresses  the  Galatians,  was 
applicable  in  a  certain  sense  to  the  whole  church  at  this  period. 


BONIFACE,    THE     APOSTLE.  489 

"  Having  begun  in  the  spirit,  are  ye  now  made  perfect  in 
the  flesh  ?  How  turn  ye  again  to  the  weak  and  beggarly 
elements  of  the  world,  whereunto  ye  desire  ■  again  to  be  in 
bondage  ?" 

But  we  also  recognize  in  this  development  of  the  church, 
the  guiding  wisdom  of  its  invisible  Ruler,  who  permitted  it 
to  happen,  that  rude  humanity  should  be  again  placed  under 
the  law  as  a  schoolmaster,  that  it  might  be  trained  to  the 
righteousness  of  faith,  to  the  gospel  of  the  spirit,  as  this 
was  about  to  appear  at  the  Reformation  in  all  its  clearness, 
in  contrariety  to  that  confused  mixture  of  the  law  and  gos- 
pel. Underneath  that  shell  of  ordinances  relating  to  out- 
ward things,  the  kernel  of  the  gospel  was  still  preserved, 
and  it  needed  only  the  shell  to  be  broken  for  the  kernel  to 
be  exhibited  in  all  its  purity. 

And  from  the  time  that  mixture  of  law  and  gospel  spread 
in  the  church,  and  the  things  of  the  spirit  were  involved  in 
outward  ordinances,  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  always  aroused 
individual  witnesses  to  whom  the  things  of  the  spirit  were 
revealed  in  their  purity,  and  who  felt  themselves  compelled 
to  combat  that  bondage  to  the  rudiments  of  this  world. 

They  were  the  lights  that  appeared  in  a  dark  place,  till  the 
day  dawned  and  the  morning  star  arose  on  the  church  of  God. 

Boniface,  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy  years,  was  not 
willing  to  pass  his  last  days  in  self-indulgent  repose. 

When  he  could  with  confidence  leave  his  follower.  Lull, 
to  carry  on  the  work  in  Germany,  christian  love  impelled 
him  to  go  where  there  was  a  deficiency  of  laborers,  where 
severe  conflicts  for  the  gospel  were  still  to  be  waged. 

The  intention  of  laboring  for  the  conversion  of  the  inhab- 
itants of  Friesland,  for  whom  nothing  had  been  done  since 
the  labors  carried  on  for  fifty  years  by  the  zealous  Willifred, 
and  the  greater  part  of  whom  are  still  pagans ;  this  intention 
had  never  left  him,  and  now  when  there  was  nothing  more 
for  him  to  do  in  Germany,  it  was  revived  with  fresh  vigor. 
He  took  leave  of  his  follower.  Lull,  saying,  "  I  can  not  do 
otherwise  ;  I  must  go  whither  the  impulse  of  my  heart  leads 
me,  for  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand ;  soon  shall  I  be 


490  BONIFACE,    THE    APOSTLE. 

freed  from  this  body,  and  obtain  a  crown  of  eternal  glory. 
But  you,  my  dearest  son,  carry  on  to  perfection  the  founding 
of  the  churches  which  I  began  in  Thuringia ;  complete  the 
building  of  the  church  in  Fulder,  and  may  that  be  the  rest- 
ing place  of  my  body,  bowed  down  with  years." 

He  summoned  up  the  remaining  powers  of  his  old  age, 
which  were  invigorated  by  the  inspiration  of  faith,  traveled 
through  Friesland  in  his  seventieth  year,  with  youthful  vig- 
or, preached,  converted  and  baptized  thousands,  destroyed 
idolatrous  temples,  and  founded  churches. 

The  persons  baptized  had  dispersed,  and  were  all  to  as- 
semble again  on  a  certain  day,  in  order  to  receive  confirma- 
tion. In  the  meantime,  Boniface  and  his  companions  had 
pitched  their  tents  on  the  banks  of  the  Bur  da,  not  far  from 
Doclingen,  on  the  borders  of  East  and  West  Friesland. 
"When  the  morning  of  the  appointed  day  dawned,  Boniface 
waited  with  anxiety  for  the  arrival  of  his  new  converts. 
He  heard  the  sound  of  an  approaching  multitude,  but  it 
was  an  armed  host  of  infuriated  pagans,  who  had  sworn  to 
murder  on  that  day  the  enemy  of  their  gods.  The  christian 
youths  in  the  retinue  of  Boniface  wished  to  defend,  and  were 
on  the  point  of  beginning  the  conflict ;  but,  as  soon  as  he 
heard  the  tumult,  he  went  out,  accompanied  by  his  clergy, 
and  said  to  the  young  men,  "  Cease  fighting,  for  the  Holy 
Scripture  teaches  us  not  to  return  evil  for  evil,  but  with 
good.  I  have  for  a  long  time  earnestly  desired  this  day, 
and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  come. 

"  Be  strong  in  the  Lord,  and  bear  with  thankful  resigna- 
tion whatever  his  Grace  sends.  Hope  in  Him,  and  he  will 
save  your  souls."  To  the  clergy  he  said,  *'  My  brethren,  be 
of  good  courage,  and  be  not  afraid  of  those  who  can  kill  the 
body,  but  can  not  kill  the  soul  that  is  destined  to  eternal 
life. 

"  Rejoice  in  the  Lord,  and  cast  the  anchor  of  your  hope 
on  Him,  who  will  give  you  immediately  the  reward  of  eter- 
nal happiness  ;  endure  steadfastly  the  brief  moment  of  death, 
that  you  may  reign  forever  with  Christ." 

Thus  he  died,  a  martyr,  on  the  5th  of  June,  755. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

HIS  REMARKABLE  VISIONS;  EFFECT  UPON  HIM;  BOLDJsESS  IN  PREACHING 
THE  GOSPEL  IN  THE  FACE  OF  DANGERS ;  SUCCESS  WROUGHT  BY  LOVE. 

F  WE  compare  Boniface  and  Anschar  together, 
we  shall  again  see  an  example  of  two  of  very- 
different  mental  constitutions  whom  the  spirit  of 
God,  that  actuated  them,  employed  as  his  instru- 
ments. In  the  former  there  was  a  resemblance 
to  the  Apostle  Peter  ;  in  the  latter  to  the  Apostle  John  ;  in 
the  one,  there  was  more  of  ardent,  impetuous  power  ;  in 
the  other  more  of  quiet,  active  love. 

Boniface  was  better  fitted  to  produce  great  outward  effects. 
It  was  Anschar's  gift  not  to  grow  weary  of  small  beginnings, 
but  quietly,  with  persistive  love,  to  cherish  the  inconsidera- 
ble germs  which  are  important  as  the  commencing  point  of 
a  plantation  that  will  advance  to  greatness. 

He  appears  to  have  received  his  first  religious  impressions 
into  his  opening  mind  when  a  mere  child,  through  the  early 
influence  of  a  pious  mother  whom  he  lost  in  his  fifth  year  ; 
when  his  father  sent  him  to  school,  after  her  death,  he  fell 
into  the  society  of  rude  boys,  to  whose  influence  he  yielded 
so  much  as  to  forget  his  early  impressions  of  early  piety. 
Yet  still  they  remained  unconsciously  hidden  in  his  soul, 
and  in  a  vision  of  the  night  were  recalled  to  him. 

"  It  was  as  if  he  found  himself  in  a  slippery  place,  cov- 
ered with  mire,  from  which  he  was  hardly  able  to  find  his 
way  out.  But  near  this  place  he  thought  he  saw  a  pleasant 
path,  and  in  this  path  he  beheld  a  graceful  female,  hand- 
somely adorned,  and  near  her  several  other  women  in  white 
garments,  among  whom  was  his  own  mother. 

When  he  saw  them,  he  wished  to  hasten  to  them,  but  he 
could  not  get  out  of  that  slippery  place. 

(491) 


492  ANSCHAE,    THE   APOSTLE. 

When  these  women  were  advanced  nearer,  he  thought  he 
heard  one  who  stood  at  their  head,  very  richly  adorned,  utter 
these  words :  "  My  son,  wilt  thou  come  to  thy  mother  ?"  And 
when  he  answered  her  eagerly  that  he  was  anxious  to  do  so, 
she  said  to  him  again  :  "  If  thou  wishest  to  come  to  our  com- 
pany, thou  must  guard  against  all  vain  waywardness,  and  dil- 
igently pursue  a  serious  course  of  conduct."  After  this 
dream  a  surprising  change  came  over  him,  at  which  his  own 
companions  could  not  sufficiently  wonder.  Instead  of  play- 
ing, he  occupied  himself  with  reading,  thinking,  and  other 
useful  employments.  When  he  afterward  became  a  monk 
in  the  French  convent  of  Corbie,  and  gave  himself  up  most 
entii'ely  to  a  monastic  life,  he  had  another  vision,  in  which 
the  hidden  life  with  Christ  in  God  was  represented.  He 
seemed  as  if  transported  to  the  assembly  of  the  blest.  All 
had  their  faces  toward  the  east,  and  celebrating  in  their 
hymns  of  praise,  an  appearance  in  the  east ;  and  their  united 
songs  filled  the  souls  of  the  hearers  with  inexpressible  delight. 

In  the  east  itself  was  seen  a  wonderful  splendor,  an  un- 
changeable light  of  surpassing  brilliance,  from  which  the 
most  beautiful  colors  shone  forth.  All  the  companies  of 
saints,  who  stood  exulting  on  all  sides,  drew  joy  from  the  sight. 
"  It  was  such  unbounded  splendorf  says  Anschar,  ''  that  I 
could  see  neither  beginning  nor  end  of  it.  And  when  I  had 
looked  around  on  all  sides,  I  could  see  only  the  superficial 
appearance,  and  not  what  dwelt  within  the  centre  of  this 
light.  Yet  I  believe  that  He  was  there,  whom  the  angels 
desire  to  look  upon  ;  for  from  it  proceeded  an  inexpressible 
glory,  by  which  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  assem- 
bly of  the  blest  was  enlightened.  He  himself  was,  in  a  cer- 
tain sense,  in  all,  and  all  were  in  Him  ;  He  hiinself  surround- 
ed all  from  without,  and  He  was  inwardly  among  them  ;  He 
satisfied  all  their  wants,  and  He  was  their  guiding  soul. 
He  hovered  over  them  protectively  ;  He  was  the  support 
which  bore  them  up  from  beneath.  Neither  sun  nor  moon 
gave  light  there,  nor  was  heaven  or  earth  to  be  seen.  And 
yet  it  was  not  a  brightness  which  dazzled  the  eyes  of  the 
beholders,  but    one    that    imparted   to    them    a   pleasurable 


ANSCHAR,  THE  APOSTLE.  493 

sensation.     There  was  nothing  corporeal,  but  the  contrary. 
It  was  something  inexpressible." 

When  his  two  guides,  Peter  and  John,  had  led  him  in 
front  of  this  boundless  light,  a  voice,  as  from  the  Divine 
Majesty,  which  appeared  represented  to  him  by  this  im- 
measurable, unchangeable  light,  sounded  forth  to  him,  full 
of  inexpressible  sweetness  :  "  Go  hence,  and  return  to  me 
with  the  crown  of  martyrdom."  At  these  words  the  whole 
host  of  those  who  were  praising  God  were  dumb,  and  then 
with  reverent  looks  they  prayed.  But  Anschar  saw  not  the 
face  of  Him  from  Avhom  the  voice  came.  "  After  these 
words,"  he  says,  "  I  was  sad,  because  I  was  obliged  to  return 
to  the  world  ;  but,  quieted  by  the  promise  that  I  should  re-  * 
turn  from  it  again  hereafter,  I  went  back  with  my  guides. 
On  my  return,  as  well  as  on  my  way  thither,  they  said  noth- 
ing to  me,  but  gave  me  such  a  look  of  tender  love  as  when 
a  mother  gazes  on  her  only  son. 

"  And  thus  I  returned  again  to  the  body.  In  going  and 
returning,  there  was  no  effort  and  no  delay ;  we  were  imme- 
diately where  we  wished  to  be.  And  although  I  have  ex- 
pressed something  of  such  blessedness,  yet  I  admit  that  my 
tongue  can  never  express  what  my  soul  experienced. 

"But  my  soul  itself  felt  it  not,  as  it  actually  was,  for  it 
appeared  to  me  to  be  what  no  eye  had  seen,  nor  ear  heard, 
nor  had  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive." 

We  have  represented  this  vision  according  to  Anschar's 
own  description,  because  it  gives  us  so  deep  an  insight  into 
the  Divine  life  -of  a  simple  christian  soul.  This  vision  made 
a  powerful  and  indelible  impression  upon  him. 

It  awoke  him  to  a  new  earnestness  in  the  christian  life, 
and  it  animated  him  henceforward  with  the  thought  that  he 
was  called  to  die  the  precious  death  of  a  martyr  for  the  faith. 
Two  years  after  he  had  another  i-emarkable  vision.  He  had 
been  engaged  in  prayer  in  a  small  chapel  to  which  he  was 
often  used  to  retire  for  secret  devotion,  and  when  he  rose 
fi-om  prayer,  there  entered  at  the  door  a  person  of  noble 
countenance  in  a  Jewish  dress,  whose  eyes  shone  as  if  full 
of  light.     He  immediately  thought  it  was    the    Lord,  and 


494  ANSCHAB,    THE     APOSTLE. 

threw  himself  at  his  feet.  As  he  lay  prostrate,  the  apparition 
called  upon  him  to  stand  up ;  and  when  full  of  aAve  he  stood 
before  Him,  and  was  not  able  to  look  on  his  countenance 
for  the  excessive  splendor  of  the  light  which  beamed  from 
his  eyes,  the  Lord  said  with  a  kind  voice  to  him,  "  Confess 
thy  sins,  that  thou  mayst  be  justified."  He  answered,  "  Lord, 
why  need  I  say  it  to  thee  ?  thou  knowest  all ;  nothing  is  hid 
from  thee."  The  Lord  said,  "  I  indeed  know  all  things,  but 
yet  it  is  my  will  that  men  should  confess  their  sins  to  me  in 
order  that  they  may  receive  forgiveness."  Thereupon  he 
made  confession  of  sin  and  knelt  down  to  pray.  The  Lord 
then  said,  "  Fear  not ;  I  am  he  that  blotteth  out  thy  trans- 
egressions."  With  these  words  he  vanished,  and  Anschar 
woke  with  joyful  confidence  that  his  sins  were  forgiven. 

At  a  later  period  he  was  sent  with  some  other  monks  from 
the  monastery  of  Corbie  as  a  colony  for  spreading  Christianity 
on  the  Weser,  where  he  had  to  conduct  a  school,  and  to 
preach  to  the  people.  Under  the  various  difficulties  with 
which  this  monastery  had  to  combat  in  a  wild  and  poor  dis- 
trict, he  had  an  opportunity  of  exercising  himself  in  christian 
patience,  and  certainly  this  was  a  good  preparation  for  his 
missionary  calling.  When  the  Jutland  king,  Harold,  who 
was  baptized  at  Ingleheim,  in  the  year  826,  was  returning 
home  from  a  visit  to  his  ally.  Emperor  Lewis  the  Pious,  that 
emperor  wished  a  zealous  preacher  of  the  gospel  to  accom- 
pany the  Danes,  to  confirm  and  promote  their  faith,  and  to 
spread  it  more  widely.  It  was  difficult,  however,  to  find  one 
who  was  not  alarmed  by  the  reports  of  the  wildness  of  those 
northmen,  and  of  the  evil  character  of  their  idolatry.  But 
the  Abbot  Wala,  of  the  monastery  of  Corbie,  to  which  An- 
schar had  then  returned,  informed  the  emperor  that  he  knew 
a  man  of  glowing  zeal  for  the  cause  of  God,  who  even  longed 
to  suffer  for  it.  Anschar  was  called,  and  was  ready  to  go 
immediately  with  Harold  to  Denmark. 

While  his  abbot  visited  the  court,  Anschar  prepared  him- 
self in  the  retirement  of  a  vineyard,  by  reading  the  Scriptures 
and  prayer  for  his  great  calling.  He  appeared  always  seri- 
ous  and  in  deep  thought,  so  that  those  who  could  not  look 


ANSCHAR,    THE    APOSTLE.  495 

into  his  interior  frame,  might  imagine  that  he  was  afraid  of 
dangers  and  toils,  and  repented  of  the  step  he  had  taken. 

But  it  was  in  him  only  the  consciousness  of  the  greatness 
and  difficulty  of  the  calling  that  made  him  serious,  since  he 
began  the  work,  not  in  the  arrogance  of  human  self-confi- 
dence, but  with  fear  and  trembling  in  dependence  on  God ; 
he  was  well  aware  of  his  own  unworthiness  and  weakness ; 
he  depended  only  on  the  power  of  God,  and  appearing  more 
quiet  and  reserved  before  men,  he  had  turned  his  whole 
heart  to  Him.  "When  one  who  wished  to  accompany  him  in 
his  missionary  work,  asked  him  whether  he  still  remained 
firm  to  his  resolution,  he  answered,  "  When  I  was  asked  to 
go  for  God's  name  among  the  heathen,  I  could  not  venture  to 
decline  such  a  call.  Yes  ;  with  all  my  powers  I  wish  to  go 
hence,  and  no  man  can  make  me  waver  in  the  resolution." 

The  most  striking  points  in  Anschar's  character  were  his 
unwearied  patience,  his  winning  love,  and  his  steadfast  faith, 
when  dangers  and  obstacles  stood  in  his  way. 

These  distinguishing  qualities  were  tried  in  a  variety  of 
ways  from  his  first  entrance  on  this  mission.  The  Danes 
whom  he  accompanied  on  their  return  to  their  native  country, 
appear  to  have  been  at  that  time  great  strangers  to  the  nature 
of  Christianity.  Anschar  met  with  rough  treatment  from 
them  till  his  arrival  at  Cologne,  when  the  bishop  of  that  city, 
Hadelbod,  furnished  him  with  a  convenient  vessel  by  which 
he  might  proceed  by  sea. 

This  induced  Harold  to  become  his  associate,  and  Anschar 
now  succeeded  in  subduing  the  rude  manners  of  the  Danes. 

King  Harold  was  afterward  expelled  from  his  kingdom. 
Anschar  could  do  nothing  more  excepting  to  purchase  native 
children  in  order  to  educate  them  for  teachers  to  the  people, 
and  found  a  little  school  at  Hadeby,  in  Schleswig,  the  first 
christian  institution  in  these  regions. 

Plis  companion,  Autbert,  was  taken  from  him  by  an  illness 
which  obliged  him  to  return  to  his  native  country.  Yet 
these  untoward  circumstances  could  not  turn  him  aside — a 
proof  how  free  he  was  from  self;  for  the  more  self-love  is 
mingled  with  zeal,  flowing  even  from  the  purest  fountain,  so 


496  ANSCHAR,    THE    APOSTLE. 

much  more  restless  and  impatient  it  is  to  see  the  fruit  of  its 
own  labors.  In  proportion  as  zeal  is  purified  from  the  alloy 
of  self,  it  carries  on  the  work  of  God,  in  the  consciousness 
that  "  neither  is  he  that  planteth  any  thing,  nor  he  that  water- 
eth,  but  God  that  giveth  the  increase  ;"  it  will  leave  to  Him 
when  and  where  to  give  that  increase. 

While  in  this  unfavorable  situation  he  received  a  call  to  a 
new  missionary  undertaking  in  Sweden,  and  he  immediately 
complied  with  it,  convinced  that  it  came  from  God.  He  pro- 
ceeded to  that  country  in  a  merchant  vessel,  as  an  ambassador 
from  king  Lewis  the  Pious,  with  presents  for  the  king  of  that 
place.  They  were  attacked  by  pirates,  and  lost  every  thing ; 
with  great  difficulty  they  gained  the  shore  and  saved  their 
lives.  Several  of  Anschar's  companions  wished  to  return, 
but  he  declared  "that  what  might  happen  to  him  was  in 
God's  hands,  but  that  he  had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  return 
until  he  had  discovered  whether  it  was  God's  will  that  the 
gospel  should  be  published  there." 

At  a  later  period  he  was  suddenly  fallen  upon  in  the  seat  of 
his  diocese,  at  Hamburg,  by  the  pagan  Normans ;  he  lost 
every  thing,  and  saved  himself  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
He  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  on  the  estate  of  a  j)ious  female 
of  rank  in  Holstein ;  but  as  soon  as  he  could  find  safety  and 
quiet  in  his  own  diocese,  he  was  immediately  intent  on 
widening  the  sphere  of  his  labors. 

The  unfavorable  prospect,  on  account  of  the  enmity  of 
Horick,  the  reigning  sovereign  of  Denmark,  who  had  taken 
a  principal  part  in  those  incursions  into  the  diocese  of  Ham- 
burg, could  not  deter  him.  He  knew  the  omnipotence  of 
love ;  he  prayed  continually  for  the  conversion  and  salvation 
of  those  who  threatened  destruction  to  him  and  all  christians 
with  fire  and  sword.  He  allowed  himself  to  be  employed  by 
king  Lewis,  of  Germany,  as  an  ambassador  to  king  Horick  ; 
he  made  him  presents,  won  his  heart  by  love,  and,  at  last, 
Horick  placed  such  confidence  in  him  that  he  would  treat  only 
through  him  with  the  German  empire  ;  and  he  then  made  use 
of  this  personal  attachment  of  the  king  to  accomplish  some- 
thing for  the  christian  church.     He  obtained  permission  from 


ANSCHAR,    THE    APOSTLE.  497 

him  to  erect  a  church  in  the  town  of  Schleswig,  which  as  a 
mart  of  commerce,  was  peculiarly  fitted  to  spread  Christianity 
further  inland.  He  also  procured  from  this  king  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  the  Swedish  king,  Olof.  Horick  wrote  to  the 
effect  that  "he  had  never  in  his  life  seen  so  good  a  man  ;  that 
he  never  found  one  so  trustworthy ;  and,  since  he  had  found 
so  much  goodness  in  him,  he  had  permitted  him  to  undertake 
what  he  wished  in  reference  to  Christianity  in  his  own  land, 
and  he  hoped  that  king  Olof  would  also  permit  him  to  publish 
the  gospel  in  his  kingdom,  for  he  certainly  wished  to  effect 
nothing  but  what  was  good  and  right." 

When  Anschar  arrived  in  Sweden,  he  found  the  pagans 
greatly  opposed  to  the  strange  religion.  His  friends  advised 
him  only  to  make  use  of  the  presents  he  had  brought  with 
him,  in  order  to  rescue  his  life  from  the  impending  danger. 
But  Anschar  answered,  "  I  would  give  nothing  here  to  re- 
deem my  life  ;  for,  if  the  Lord  has  so  determined,  I  am  ready 
to  suffer  tortures  and  even  death  here  for  his  name's  sake." 
He  invited  the  king  to  an  entertainment,  gave  him  the  pre- 
sents, and  won  his  heart,  for  he  knew  well  how  to  become  all 
things  to  all  men ;  and  afterward  the  Lord  helped  him  in  the 
way  which  his  infinite  wisdom  had  opened  for  him. 

Anschar  experienced  many  wonderful  answers  to  prayer 
in  the  course  of  his  laborious  and  dangerous  ministry.  This 
was  known,  and  many  sick  persons  came  to  him  to  obtain  a 
cure  by  his  prayers.  But  he  himself  disowned  the  reputation 
of  a  worker  of  miracles,  and  said  :  "  If  I  were  thought  worthy 
before  my  God  of  that,  I  would  beseech  him  to  grant  me  this 
miracle,  that  by  his  grace  he  would  make  of  me  a  holy  man." 

When,  after  four  and  thirty  years'  labor,  in  his  sixty-fourth 
year,  he  came  to  his  end  through  the  sufferings  of  a  painful 
malady,  he  frequently  said,  with  Job,  "  Shall  we  receive  good 
at  the  hand  of  God,  and  shall  we  not  receive  evil  ? "  After 
receiving  the  Holy  Supper,  he  raised  his  hands  to  heaven  and 
prayed  that  the  grace  of  God  might  forgive  every  one  who 
had  in  any  way  injured  him.  He  then  frequently  repeated 
the  words,  "  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  thy 
loving  kindness.     Be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner.     Into  thy 

32 


498  GREGORY,    ABBOT    OF    UTRECHT. 

hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  And,  after  he  had  commended 
his  spirit  to  the  grace  of  God,  looking  toward  heaven,  he  left 
this  world,  in  the  year  865. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

EAGERLY  LISTENS  TO  THE  INSTRUCTIONS  OF  BONPFACE,  AND  FOLLOAYS  HIM ; 
DIES  IN  THE  CHUECH,  AT  AN  ADVANCED  AGE. 

ONIFACE  took  a  peculiar  interest  in  the  young, 
and,  in  this  instance,  sowed  the  seed  which, 
after  his  death,  brought  forth  abundant  fruit. 
He  left  behind  him  those  who,  having  been 
educated  and  trained  by  him,  continued  to 
labor  in  different  spheres  and  the  same  spirit. 

Among  these,  his  scholars,  the  abbot,  Gregory,  distinguished 
himself.  The  manner  in  which  Boniface  first  became  con- 
nected with  him  shows,  in  a  remarkable  manner,  with  what 
power  he  could  operate  on  youthful  minds. 

When  Boniface  left  his  first  field  of  labor  in  Friesland,  and 
was  travelling  to  Hesse,  he  came  to  a  nunnery,  situate  on  the 
Moselle,  in  the  territory  of  Triers,  where  he  was  hospitably 
received  by  the  abbess  Acldula. 

It  was  a  custom  of  the  times  to  read  a  portion  of  the 
Scriptures  during  meals.  For  this  office  the  abbess  chose  her 
grandson,  a  lad  of  fifteen  years,  just  returned  from  school. 
After  Boniface  had  pronounced  the  blessing,  the  youth  read 
out  of  the  Latin  Bible.  Boniface  thought  he  observed  marks 
of  intelligence  in  his  countenance ;  and,  when  he  had  finished, 
said,  "  You  read  well,  my  son,  but  do  you  understand  what 
you  read  ?  "  The  youth,  who  did  not  catch  his  meaning, 
said  certainly,  he  well  understood  what  he  had  been  reading. 
"Then,  tell  me,"  said  Boniface,  "  how  you  understand  it." 
The  youth  began  to  read  it  over  again,  when  Boniface  inter- 
rupted him  by  saying,  *'  No,  my  son,  that  is  not  what  I  mean : 


GREGORY,  ABBOT  OF  UTRECHT.       499 

I  know  very  well  that  you  can  read  it ;  but  you  must  give  me, 
in  your  mother  tongue,  what  you  have  read."  The  youth 
acknowledged  that  he  was  not  able.  "  Shall  I,  then,  tell  you 
what  it  is  ?  "  said  Boniface ;  and,  when  the  youth  requested 
him  to  do  so,  he  let  him  read  the  whole  once  more,  distinctly, 
and  then  he  himself  translated  it  into  German,  and  preached 
upon  it  before  the  whole  company. 

And,  as  Lindger,  a  scholar  of  Gregory,  who  is  the  narrator 
of  this  incident,  tells  us,  "  it  was  evident  from  what  source 
these  words  came  ;  for  they  pressed  with  such  power  and 
rapidity  on  Gregory's  mind  that  at  a  single  exhortation  of  this 
teacher,  hitherto  unknown  to  him,  he  forgot  parents  and 
native  land,  and  at  once  went  up  to  his  grandmother  and  said, 
that  he  wished  to  go  with  this  man  and  learn  from  him  to 
understand  the  Scriptures." 

The  abbess  tried  to  keep  him  back,  and  represented  to  him 
that  this  person  was  an  entire  stranger  to  him,  and  that  he 
knew  not  whither  he  was  going.  But,  "  many  waters  can  not 
quench  love."  Gregory  was  firm  to  his  resolution,  and  said 
to  his  grandmother :  "  If  you  will  not  give  me  a  horse  to  ride 
with  him,  I  will  follow  him  on  foot."  When  she  saw  that 
something  heavenly  had  touched  the  youth's  heart,  she  gave 
him  a  horse  and  servant,  and  allowed  him  to  go  with 
Boniface. 

Lindger  says,  respecting  it :  '"  It  appears  to  me  that  at  that 
time  the  same  spirit  was  working  in  this  young  man  which 
inflamed  the  apostles,  when,  at  the  word  of  the  Lord,  they 
forsook  their  nets  and  their  father,  and  followed  their  Ke- 
deemer.  This  was  the  work  of  the  Supreme  Artificer, — that 
same  Divine  Spirit  who  works  all  in  all,  imparting  to  every 
one  as  lie  will." 

Gregory  from  that  time  followed  Boniface  wherever  he 
went,  amidst  all  his  dangers  and  toils,  as  a  most  faithful 
scholar.  He  traveled  with  him  at  a  later  period  to  Home, 
and  brought  back  bibles  with  him,  which  he  used  in  the  in- 
struction of  youth.  He  also  accompanied  him  on  his  last 
journey  to  Friesland,  and,  after  his  teacher's  martyrdom 
labored  mucii  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  and  christian  edu- 


500       GEEGOEY,  ABBOT  OF  UTEECHT. 

cation  in  Friesland,  as  abbot  of  a  monastery  at  Utrecht.  He 
took  great  pains  especially  in  preparing  missionaries  and 
teachers. 

Young  men  from  France,  England,  Friesland,  Saxony, 
Suabia  and  Bavaria  were  here  united  by  the  bond  of  holy 
love,  and  formed  into  a  nursery  for  the  kingdom  of  God ;  and, 
from  this  spot  preachers  of  the  gospel  went  forth,  in  various 
directions,  among  tribes  that  were  still  pagan,  and  such  as 
were  newly  converted  to  Christianity.  Early  in  the  morning 
he  sat  in  his  cell  with  paternal  anxiety,  and  expected  each  one 
of  his  scholars  would  come  to  him,  to  whom  he  would  address 
out  of  the  Word  of  God  what  was  exactly  suited  to  the  wants 
and  peculiar  disposition  of  each  individual. 

Frequently,  in  his  sermons,  he  impressed  on  his  scholars 
that  the  new  man  could  make  no  progress  unless  the  old  man 
was  continually  dying ;  and,  with  this  reference,  he  often 
quoted  the  words  of  the  Prophet,  Jeremiah  :  "  I  have  set  thee 
to  root  out,  and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy,  and  to  throw 
down,  to  build  and  to  plant ; "  and,  connected  with  it,  as  an  en- 
couragement to  the  conflict,  the  promise :  "  Eye  hath  not  seen, 
nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it  entered  into  the  heart  of  man 
to  conceive  what  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." 

In  his  seventieth  year,  three  years  before  his  death,  he  had 
a  stroke  of  palsy  on  the  left  side  ;  but  he  retained  his  cheer- 
fulness, went  about  among  his  scholars,  or  was  carried  by 
them,  and  continued  to  expound  the  Scriptixres  and  to  preach 
to  them,  or  to  distribute  among  them  works  for  tlieir  particu- 
lar study. 

In  the  last  year  of  his  life  his  lameness  had  so  increased 
that  he  was  obliged,  like  John,  the  apostle,  in  his  old  age,  to 
be  carried  whither  he  wished  by  his  scholars. 

At  last,  he  was  confined  to  his  bed,  where  the  bible  was 
read,  or  psalms  sung  to  him. 

He  retained  his  consciousness  to  the  last.  His  scholars 
stood  around  his  bed,  and  comforted  one  another  with  the 
words,  "  He  will  not  die  to-day." 

But  he  summoned  up  his  remaining  strength,  and  said : 
"To-day  you  must  grant  my  discharge." 


STURM,    OF    FULDA.  501 

He  was  carried  into  the  church  by  his  scholars,  and  placed 
before  the  altar,  where  he  prayed,  partook  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and,  anxiously  fixing  his  looks  on  the  altar,  there 
breathed  his  last. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Sturm,  0f  i\x\Uu. 

EFFORTS  IN  FOUNDING  A  MONASTERY;  FINAL  SUCCESS,  AND  LAST 
FAREWELL  TO  HIS  FRIENDS. 

^^p"EXT  to  Gregory,  one  of  the  most  able  scholars 
of  Boniface  was  Sturm,  descended  from  a  re- 


spectable Bavarian  family,  who  was  committed 
to  Boniface  when  a  boy,  by  his  parents  for 
education. 

After  having  assisted  him  for  three  years  in  preaching,  he 
was  seized  with  the  desire  to  found  a  monastery  somewhere 
in  one  of  those  wilds  which  then  covered  Germany,  and 
which  were  reclaimed  only  by  the  transforming  power  of 
Christianity. 

As  Boniface  regarded  monastic  institutions  as  the  princi- 
pal means  of  improvement,  both  for  the  people  and  the  land, 
he  was  well  pleased  with  this  proposal.  He  joined  with 
him  two  others  as  companions,  and,  after  praying  for  them 
and  giving  them  his  blessing,  said :  "  Go  into  Buchwald : 
may  God  enable  his  servants  to  prepare  a  settled  habitation 
in  the  wilderness." 

They  wandered  for  two  days  through  the  forest,  and  saw 
nothing  but  the  earth,  and  sky,  and  immense  trees. 

On  the  third  day  they  came  to  a  place  which  seemed  suit- 
able for  cultivation,  then  called  Hersfield,  or  Heroldesfield, 
and  now  Herschfeld. 

After  calling  on  Christ  to  give  them  his  blessing,  and  that 
this  place  might  be  an  abode  for  them,  they  built  small  huts 


502  STURM,    OF    FULDA. 

covered  with  the  bark  of  trees,  and  remained  there  for  some 
time, 

Sturm  returned  to  his  beloved  master,  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  an  exact  report  to  him  respecting  the  situation  of  the 
place,  the  quality  of  the  soil,  and  the  springs. 

Boniface  did  not  at  once  give  his  opinion,  but  let  him  first 
of  all  rest,  and  revived  him  by  spiritual  conversation. 

He  then  told  him  plainly  that  the  spot  they  had  chosen 
was  too  much  exposed  to  the  incursions  of  the  wild  Saxons. 
Sturm  and  his  companions  sought  a  long  time,  but  could 
find  no  place  corresponding  to  the  wishes  of  their  bishop. 
At  last  Sturm  set  out  alone.  He  rode  on  an  ass  through  the 
wildest  parts,  singing  psalms,  and  lifting  his  heart  to  heaven, 
or  praying  with  sighs  to  God. 

He  rested  wherever  he  happened  to  be  at  night-fall.  The 
earth  was  his  bed.  With  a  sword  which  he  carried  with 
him  he  cut  down  branches  of  trees,  and  with  them  formed  a 
fence  to  protect  himself  from  the  wild  beasts,  of  which 
there  were  great  numbers  in  the  forest. 

But,  after  calling  on  the  Lord,  and  resigning  all  to  him, 
he  would  lie  down  with  composure,  trusting  in  the  God  of 
heaven  to  hear  and  answer  his  prayer  for  protection. 

On  one  occasion  a  troop  of  wild  Sclavonians,  who  had 
been  bathing  in  the  Fulda,  met  him  with  an  insulting  out- 
cry. Their  interpreter  asked  liim  whither  he  was  going. 
He  answered  quietly,  "  Further  into  the  forest ;"'  and  here 
the  hand  of  God  watched  over  him,  for  the  Sclavonians 
allowed  him  to  proceed  unmolested. 

At  last,  he  reached  the  object  of  his  toilsome  and  danger- 
ous pilgrimage,  and  found  a  place  with  which  Boniface  was 
perfectly  satisfied. 

Here,  then,  in  the  year  744,  the  foundation  of  the  monas- 
tery of  Fulda  was  laid,  from  which  the  cultivation  of  this 
wilderness  commenced,  and  in  which  the  most  distinguished 
teachers  of  the  German  church  in  following  ages  were 
trained. 

Charlemagne  employed  Sturm  particularly  in  publishing 
the  gospel  among  the  wild  Saxons,  who,  though  often  van- 


STURM,    OF    FULDA.  503 

quished,  always  rebelled  against  the  rule  of  the  Franks,  and 
against  the  christian  church,  which  had  been  forced  upon 
them,  and,  therefore,  rendered  hateful. 

Preachers  of  the  gospel,  coming  in  the  train  of  an  armed 
host,  could  not,  indeed,  find  an  easy  entrance  to  the  hearts 
of  men.  Sturm  excited  the  fury  of  the  pagans  against  him, 
and  his  institution  was  often  the  object  of  their  desolating 
attacks. 

On  the  day  before  his  death  he  called  all  his  people  around 
him,  and  said  to  them,  "  You  know  what  has  been  my  ear- 
nest aim;  how. I  have  labored  up  to  this  day  for  your  ad- 
vantage and  peace,  and  have  been  especially  anxious  that 
this  monastery,  after  my  death,  might  abide  faithful  to  the 
will  of  Christ,  and  that  you  might  here  sincerely  serve  the 
Lord.  Now  abide  all  the  days  of  your  life  in  the  course  of 
conduct  you  have  commenced.  Pray  for  me  to  the  Most 
High ;  and  forgive  me  if  I  have  done  any  thing  wrong,  or 
have  injured  any  one  by  injustice.  I  forgive  with  all  my 
heart  all  who  have  injured  me,  even  my  constant  enemies." 

On  the  following  day,  signs  of  approaching  dissolution 
manifested  themselves,  and  those  of  his  friends  about  him, 
wished  him  to  remember  them  at  the  throne  of  grace  once 
more  'ere  he  entered  that  world  where  prayer  would  be  lost 
in  praise. 

"  Show  yourselves  worthy,"  said  the  dying  man,  "  and 
let  vour  conduct  be  such  that  I  can  with  propriety  pray  for 
you." 

"Prayer  "  is  indeed  "  the  christian's  vital  breath, 
The  christian's  native  air ; 
His  watchword  at  the  gates  of  death  ; 
He  enters  heaven  with  prayer." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

HIS  CHRISTIAN  DISINTERESTEDNESS ;  LABORS  AMONG  THE  HEATHEN ; 

SUCCESS  IN  CONVERTING  THEM  TO  CHRISTIANITY ;  DEMOLISHES, 

BY  HIS  INELUENCE,  HEATHEN  TEMPLES,  AND  RAISES 

CHURCHES  IN  THEIR  PLACES. 

S  THE  close  of  the  eleventli  century  was  marked 
by  a  revival  of  Christianity,  so  missionaries 
were  again  sent  forth  by  the  awakened  church. 
We  here  delineate  the  character  of  one  to  whom 
the  Pomeranians  were  indebted  for  Christianity, 
and  one  who  distinguished  himself  in  his  spiritual  pastorate 
by  fidelity  and  self-sacrificing  love.  He  gladly  subjected 
himself  to  deprivations,  that  he  might  be  able  to  give  more 
to  the  poor ;  to  their  benefit  he  most  cheerfully  devoted  all 
the  gifts  that  princes  and  nobles,  far  or  near,  sent  him. 
Once  during  a  fast,  when  fish  were  very  dear,  an  expensive 
fish  was  brought  to  his  table ;  he  said  to  his  steward,  "  God 
forbid  that  poor  Otto  should  devour  so  much  gold  to-day. 
Take  this  expensive  fish  to  my  Saviour,  who  is  dearer  to  me 
than  I  am  to  myself.  Take  it  hence  to  some  one  whom  you 
may  find  on  a  sick  bed.  For  me  Avho  am  in  health,  bread  is 
enouo-h."  On  another  occasion  a  costly  fur  was  sent  to  him, 
with  a  request  that  he  would  wear  it  as  a  memento  of  the 
giver.  But  he  returned  it,  saying,  "  that  since  this  gift  was 
a  proof  of  peculiar  love,  he  was  anxious,  in  remembrance  of 
him  who  had  shown  him  such  love,  that  the  gift  should  be 
preserved  safe  and  uninjured,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust 
can  consume,  nor  thieves  break  through  and  steal ;"  refer- 
ring to  the  Lord's  saying  respecting  laying  up  treasures  in 
heaven.  He  kept  an  exact  register  of  all  the  sick  persons 
in  town,  those  suffering  from  various  diseases,  that  he  might 
send  relief  according  to  their  particular  necessities. 

He  now  said  to  one  of  his  servants,  "  Take  this  beautiful 

(504) 


OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA.  505 

and  expensive  fur  cloak,  and  carry  it  to  that  lame  and  bed- 
ridden person,  whose  body  is  covered  with  sores." 

It  was  quite  befitting  a  man  whose  heart  so  glowed  with 
love,  that  he  should  testify  of  the  Saviour  to  those  who  had 
never  before  heard  of  him. 

In  the  year  1124,  Otto  set  out  on  his  missionary  travels. 
After  many  happy  results,  though  not  without  several  un- 
successful attempts,  and  overcoming  some  great  dangers,  he 
came  to  the  capital  city,'  Stettin.  Much  depended  on  the 
reception  he  might  meet  with  here.  Many  of  the  pagans 
waited  with  intense  expectation  for  the  decision  of  their 
capital,  and  it  seemed  at  first  as  if  this  would  not  be  favorable. 
How  commonly  the  lives  of  those  who  profess  Christianity  do 
it  the  greatest  injury !  That  which  was  here  known  of  the 
neighboring  christian  nations,  who  were  still  very  far  from 
being  truly  christian,  did  not  contribute  to  give  a  favorable 
idea  of  rehgion  itself.  The  people  were,  as  it  seemed,  in  a 
state  of  happy  childhood,  and  not  yet  acquainted  with  the 
evils  through  which  man  must  pass  in  order  to  arrive  at 
manhood. 

They  knew  nothing  of  the  evils  that  accompany  a  com- 
mencing civilization,  the  beginning  of  mental  culture  from 
which  man  can  not  remain  exempt,  who  is  not  destined  for 
an  indolent  life  on  earth  in  dull  unconsciousness,  but  to 
exercise  dominion  over  the  world,  as  a  being  made  in  the 
image  of  God.  As  yet  all  the  misery  was  unknown  to  them 
of  the  discord  that  man  must  experience  in  order  to  learn  the 
corruption  of  his  nature,  and  the  only  cure  for  it. 

Thus  the  inhabitants  of  Stettin  were  disposed  to  over- value 
the  advantages  and  prosperity  of  their  situation,  while  they 
judged  of  the  effects  of  Christianity  only  according  to  the 
appearances  presented  to  superficial  observation,  as  shown  in 
the  mass  of  its  professors. 

Otto,  whose  patience  was  not  to  be  wearied  by  the  want 
of  immediate  success,  spent  several  months  at  the  capital,  and 
during  that  time  acted  in  a  manner  best  suited  to  silence 
these  complaints,  by  the  example  of  his  pious  life,  animated 
with  the  spirit  of  love. 


506  OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA. 

If  these  pagans  had  heard  of  such  vices  prevailing  among 
christians,  Avhich  accompanied  the  transition  from  barbarism 
to  civiHzation,  and  were  still  unknown  to  them  by  experience. 
Otto  now  showed  them  virtues  which  were  equally  strange  to 
them,  on  the  stand-point  of  their  instinctive  well-disposed  state 
of  nature — specimens  of  that  self-sacrificing  love  which  are 
only  to  be  met  with  where  the  selfishness  of  man  has  been 
overcome  by  the  spirit  of  God.  He  redeemed,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, many  captives,  and  after  furnishing  them  with  clothes 
and  provisions,  sent  them  back  to  their  friends. 

But  one  occurrence,  in  particular,  operated  advantageously, 
by  which  the  loving  heart  of  Otto  became  more  generally 
known,  and  the  hearts  of  the  young  were  attracted  toward 
him.  The  wife  of  an  opulent  and  respectable  person  in  the 
town  was  a  secret  christian,  who,  in  her  youth,  had  been 
taken  away  by  force  from  a  christian  country.  She  had 
always  remained  firmly  attached  to  her  faith,  but  had  not 
ventured  to  profess  it  publicly  among  a  heathen  people. 

She  was  greatly  rejoiced  at  the  coming  of  a  bishop,  but 
never  ventured  to  give  a  public  expression  to  her  feelings, 
and  become  one  of  his  adherents. 

It  might,  perhaps,  be  owing  in  part  to  her  influence,  that 
her  two  sons  frequently  visited  him  for  the  purpose  of  asking 
questions  respecting  the  christian  faith.  Otto  availed  himself 
of  this  to  instruct  them  gradually  in  the  truth  of  revelation, 
till  at  last,  they  declared  themselves  convinced,  and  de'sirous 
of  baptism. 

Their  mother  heard  the  circumstance  with  joy,  and  sent 
for  them  all  to  come  to  her.  Otto  waited  for  her  in  the  open 
air,  sitting  on  the  turf,  surrounded  by  his  clergy,  and  the 
youths  sitting  at  his  feet.  The  sight  of  them  made  such  an 
impression  on  the  mother,  who  for  so  many  years  had 
concealed  her  Christianity,  that,  overpowered  by  her  feelings, 
she  fell  weeping  on  the  ground. 

The  bishop  and  ecclesiastics  Avere  startled,  and  hastened 
to  raise  the  woman ;  they  tried  to  calm  her  mind,  for  they 
imagined  that  it  was  the  distress  occasioned  by  the  apostacy 
of  her  sons  from  the    religion  of  their  fathers,  which  had 


OTTO,     APOSTLE     OF    POMEKANIA.  507 

made  so  violent  an  impression  upon  her.  But  their  views 
were  quite  changed  as  soon  as  the  woman  came  to  herself, 
and  could  find  words  to  express  her  feelings.  Her  first 
words  were,  "  I  bless  thee,  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  thou  source  of 
all  hope  and  consolation,  that  I  behold  my  sons  consecrated 
in  thy  sacrament,  and  enlightened  in  thy  Divine  truth ;" 
then  embracing  and  kissing  her  sons,  she  added,  "  For  thou 
knowest,  my  Saviour,  that  I  have  never  ceased,  in  the  secret 
recesses  of  my  heart,  for  many  years  past,  to  commend  them 
to  thy  mercy,  and  have  besought  Thee  to  do  that  for  them, 
which  Thou  hast  done  for  me." 

And  upon  this  she  turned  to  the  bishop  and  said, 
"  Blessed  be  your  coming  to  this  town,  for  if  you  only  stay 
here  you  will  gain  a  large  church  for  the  Lord ;  only  be  not 
wearied  out  by  long  waiting.  Behold  !  I  myself,  who  stand 
before  you,  confess,  by  the  assistance  of  Almighty  God,  and 
encouraged  by  your  presence,  venerable  father,  trusting  also 
in  the  help  of  my  children,  that  I  am  a  christian,  which  I 
have  not  hitherto  ventured  to  express  openly." 

She  then  told  her  whole  history.  The  bishop,  deeply 
affected,  thanked  God  for  the  wonderful  methods  of  his 
grace,  assured  the  woman  of  his  cordial  sympathy,  spoke 
many  encouraging  words  to  support  her  faith,  and  confirm 
her  hope. 

The  destruction  of  all  the  monuments  of  idolatry  were 
resolved  upon,  and  when  the  resolution  had  been  carried 
into  effect,  there  were  many  valuable  things  which  they 
wished  to  give  Otto,  but  he  would  accept  none  of  them, 
saying,  "  Far  be  it  from  us  to  enrich  ourselves  at  your 
expense."  But  he  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  consign 
every  thing  to  destruction  which  had  formerly  been  used  for 
idolatrous  purposes.  He  well  understood  how  to  distinguish 
what  is  pure  in  itself  from  the  abuse  of  it  by  the  vain  imagi- 
nations of  men.  He  allowed  the  people  to  divide  among 
themselves  all  that  was  obtained  from  the  demolition  of  the 
temples,  after  their  destruction. 

From  Stettin,  Otto's  kbors  extended  to  other  parts  of  the 
country ;  yet  the  foundation  of  the  christian  church  was  not 


508  OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA. 

laid  by  him  in  such  a  manner  as  defied  all  attempts  to  destroy 
it.  Many  things  checked  his  influence  on  the  minds  of  the 
people ;  he  could  only  address  them  through  an  interpreter ; 
there  were  also  external  political  considerations,  which  in- 
fluenced the  conversion  of  a  part  of  the  people.  On  account 
of  business  connected  with  his  oflice,  he  was  recalled  to  his 
diocese  too  early,  before  he  was  able  to  carry  on  the  work 
further,  and  to  establish  it  more  firmly. 

The  infection  of  one-half  of  the  country  which  still  adhered 
to  paganism,  could  easily  retract  on  those  who  were  still  weak 
in  faith,  in  the  other  half  where  christian  churches  had  been 
founded.  Under  the  deprivations  to  which  the  strict  disci- 
pline of  the  church  had  subjected  them,  they  might  Jong  with 
regret  for  the  enjoyment  of  pagan  pleasures,  and  the  example 
of  their  heathen  neighbors  would  serve  to  stimulate  their  de- 
sires. Yet  in  many  hearts  Otto  had  deposited  an  imperish- 
able seed,  from  which  a  counteraction  might  spring  up  against 
the  revived  power  of  paganism.  We  may  often  notice,  in  the 
history  of  missions,  how  a  rapid  and,  to  a  superficial  dreamer, 
a  very  promising  spread  of  Christianity  has  been  succeeded 
by  a  rallying  of  the  forces  of  heathenism,  and  the  final  vic- 
tory is  not  achieved  till  after  a  fresh  conflict,  which  serves  to 
separate  the  genuine  and  the  spurious. 

Otto  would  gladly  have  come  earlier  to  the  aid  of  the  op- 
pressed new  church ;  but  he  was  hindered  for  three  years  by 
a  variety  of  unfortunate  events  and  of  official  business,  from 
following  the  impulse  of  his  heart,  and  could  not  fulfill  his 
wishes  till  the  spring  of  the  year  1128.  As  he  traveled  by  a 
different  route  from  that  of  his  first  visit,  he  came  first  to  the 
town  of  Demmin,  where  he  found  an  old  acquaintance  in  the 
governor.  Here  he  also  met  with  the  duke  Wartislau,  of 
Pomerania,  whose  heart  he  had  won  on  his  first  missionary 
journey.  He  had  just  returned  from  a  war  with  the  neigh- 
boring Sclavonian  tribes,  in  triumph,  and  laden  with  spoils. 
Here  a  spectacle  was  presented  which  must  have  deeply 
moved  the  heart  of  the  benevolent  missionary. 

The  duke's  army  had  taken  a  number  of  prisoners  who 
were  to  be  divided  with  the  rest  of  the  booty.     Among  them 


OTTO,    APOSTLE    OP    POMERANIA.  509 

were  several  of  very  weak,  tender  constitutions  ;  husbands 
were  threatened  to  be  separated  by  lot  from  their  wives, — 
wives  from  their  husbands,  and  parents  from  their  children. 

First  of  all,  Otto  succeeded  with  the  duke,  that  the  weak- 
est should  be  set  at  liberty,  and  that  relatives  should  not  be 
separated  from  each  other.  But  this  did  not  satisfy  him  :  he 
paid  the  ransom  out  of  his  own  purse  for  many  who  were 
still  pagans,  and  instructed  them  in  Christianity. 

Whitsuntide  was  chosen  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  diet, 
on  which  the  consent  of  the  different  orders  in  the  state  was 
to  be  solicited,  that  churches  might  be  founded  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  The  town  of  Usedom,  in  which  the  seeds  of 
Christianity  had  been  sown  by  some  priests  who  had  been  left 
there  by  Otto  on  his  first  missionary  tour,  Avas  selected  to  be 
the  place  for  holding  the  diet.  Of  those  who  assembled  on 
this  occasion  some  had  always  remained  pagans,  others  had 
been  converted  befoi'e  by  the  efforts  of  the  missionaiy,  but, 
in  his  absence,  had  relapsed  into  heathenism.  The  duke,  in- 
troduced the  bishop  to  the  assembly,  who  were  struck  with 
awe  at  his  whole  demeanor.  He  urged  upon  them  the  appear- 
ance of  this  individual  among  them,  took  away  the  ground 
of  excuse  they  formeidy  made  for  rejecting  Christianity, — that 
the  publishers  of  this  religion  were  poor,  despicable  people, 
in  whom  no  confidence  could  be  placed,  and  who  only  made 
use  of  it  to  get  a  living.  Here  they  saw  one  of  the  first 
members  of  the  German  empire,  who,  at  home,  had  an  abund- 
ance of  every  thing,  possessed  much  gold,  silver  and  many 
jewels  ;  a  person,  therefore,  on  whom  no  suspicion  could  be 
thrown  that  he  sought  any  thing  for  himself ;  so  far  from  that 
he  had  left  a  life  full  of  honor  and  comfort,  and  had  made  use 
of  his  own  property,  in  order  to  communicate  to  them  that 
which  he  esteemed  of  the  highest  value.  These  words  paA'^d 
the  way  to  their  hearts  for  the  bishop's  address. 

The  festival  of  Whitsuntide  gave  him  an  opportunity  of 
speaking  of  the  grace  and  goodness  of  God,  of  the  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  of  spiritual  gifts.  His  words  made  a  deep  im- 
pression ;  the  lapsed  testified  their  penitence,  and  allowed 
themselves  to  be  re-admitted  into  the  church  by  the  bishop  ; 


510  OTTO,    APOSTLE    OP    POMERANIA. 

those  who  had  always  been  heathens  were  instructed  in  Chris- 
tianity and  baptized.  By  a  decree  of  the  diet,  the  free  pub- 
lication of  the  gospel  in  all  places  was  permitted. 

When  Otto  was  occupied  in  his  mission  at  Gutzkow,  the 
people  requested  that  he  would  spare  a  beautiful  new  temple 
which  was  considered  to  be  a  great  ornament  of  the  town ; 
but,  different  from  his  conduct  on  another  occasion,  he  refused 
to  do  it.  In  vain  great  presents  were  offered  to  gain  his  con- 
sent. At  last,  they  entreated  that  he  would  convert  the 
temple  into  a  christian  church.  But  he  believed  that  if  he 
allowed  this,  a  mixture  of  paganism  and  Christianity  was  to 
be  apprehended.  In  order  to  show  the  people  that  for  their 
own  best  interests  he  could  not  comply  with  their  wishes,  he 
made  use  of  the  following  illustration  :  "  Would  you,  indeed," 
he  said  to  them,  "  sow  wheat  over  thorns  and  thistles  ?  I 
trow  not !  As  you,  therefore,  first  of  all,  root  out  the  thorns 
and  thistles  from  your  fields,  in  oixler  that  the  seed  you  sow 
may  bring  forth  an  abundant  crop,  so  must  I  take  away  from 
your  midst  all  that  belongs  to  idolatry,  the  thorns  from  my 
sermons,  that  your  hearts  may  bring  forth  fruit  unto  ever- 
lasting life  from  the  good  seed  of  the  gospel." 

And,  by  daily  reiterated  representations,  he  at  last  con- 
quered the  opposition  of  the  people,  so  that  they  destroyed 
with  their  own  hands  the  temple  and  the  idols.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  to  indemnify  the  people  for  the  loss  of  the  temple, 
he  zealously  promoted  the  building  of  a  magnificent  church. 
And,  as  soon  as  the  chancel  and  the  altar  Avere  completed, 
without  v/aiting  for  the  final  completion  of  the  church,  he 
prepared  a.  splendid  festival  for  its  consecration,  a  true  popu- 
lar festival,  which  would  eclipse  in  glory  all  their  former 
pagan  festivals.  When  all  classes,  high  and  low,  were 
assembled  for  the  occasion,  and  after  all  the  ceremonies 
ordained  by  the  church  had  been  performed,  he  explained  to 
the  assembly  the  symbolic  meaning  of  the  ceremony,  and 
made  use  of  it  to  direct  their  attention  from  the  outward  to 
the  inward,  and  to  warn  them  against  placing  Christianity  in 
mere  externals.  He  tried  to  make  it  evident  to  the  people 
that  what  had    been    outwardly  performed,    related   to  the 


OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA.  511 

internal  state  of  the  soul,  which  would  become  a  temple  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  if  Christ  dwelt  in  it  by  faith.  He  then  turned 
to  Mizlav,  the  noble  who  governed  in  this  part  of  Pomerania, 
and  who  was  baptized  by  him  on  the  day  the  diet  was  held  at 
Usedom.  "  You  are,"  he  said,  "  my  beloved  son,  the  true 
house  of  God.  You  must  to-day,  consecrate  yourself  to  him, 
the  Almighty  Creator,  in  order  to  be  freed  from  all  other 
spirits  which  have  taken  possession  of  your  heart,  and  to  be 
his  sole  property  and  dwelling-place.  Therefore,  do  not  pre- 
vent the  completion  of  this  consecration,  for  it  is  of  no  use 
that  this  visible  house  of  God  is  consecrated  externally,  unless 
that  which  is  signified  by  this  consecration  takes  effect  in  yoiu' 
inner  man." 

As  the  bishop  believed  that  it  might  be  inferred  from 
Mizlav's  expressions  that  he  had  been  touched  by  the  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  added  :  "  You  have,  in  part,  be- 
gun to  be  the  house  of  God.  Strive  that  you  may  become 
so  altogether.  Already  you  have  forsaken  the  worship  of 
idols  for  the  gospel,  and  have  received  baptism.  Now  you 
must  adorn  the  faith  with  the  works  of  piety ;  you  must  re- 
nounce roblsery,  murder,  oppression  and  deceit.  It  must  be- 
come the  rule  of  your  life,  what  you  do  not  wish  other  per- 
sons to  do  to  you,  that  you  must  not  do  unto  them.  Set  all 
your  prisoners  at  liberty ;  and,  if  you  do  not  give  all  their 
freedom,  at  least  manumit  those  who  are  christians,  who  hold 
the  same  faith  with  yourself."  By  way  of  self-defence,  Miz- 
lav replied  :  "  It  is  rather  hard  for  me,  O  father,  to  give  liberty 
to  all,  for  some  of  them  are  deeply  in  debt  to  me."  ■  The 
bishop  replied  :  "  The  word  of  the  Lord  tells  us  that  we  must 
forgive  our  debtors,  in  order  that  we  may  be  forgiven.  Thus 
you  will  obtain  acquittal  from  the  Lord,  if  you  forgive  your 
debtors  in  his  name."  Mizlav  then  said,  with  a  deep  sigh, 
"  Behold,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  I  give  all  their  free- 
dom, that,  according  to  your  word,  this  consecration  may  be 
completed  in  me  this  day,  with  the  forgiveness  of  all  my 
sins."  And,  calling  out  to  the  servant  to  whom  he  had  com- 
mitted the  oversight  of  the  prisoners,  he  commanded  him  to 
set  them  all  at  liberty.     Yet  he  made  one  exception,  of  which 


512  OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA. 

no  one  knew  any  thing.  He  was  the  son  of  a  very  respect- 
able man  from  Denmark.  His  father,  who  owed  Mizlav  a 
large  sum  of  money,  had  left  him  behind  as  a  pledge.  He 
languished,  heavily  chained,  in  an  underground  prison.  By 
a  singular  providence  this  also  came  to  light.  When  the 
clergy  were  exerting  themselves  to  prepare  every  thing  that 
was  requisite  for  the  completion  of  the  solemnitv,  one  of  the 
church  vessels  was  missing.  As  an  ecclesiastic  was  hurrying 
about  in  quest  of  it,  he  came  near  the  prison,  and  the  youth 
confined  there  succeeded  in  attracting  his  attention.  He 
called  to  him,  and  entreated  him  to  effect  his  release  through 
the  bishop.  When  he  heard  of  it,  he  was  moved  with  sym- 
pathy, but  did  not  venture  to  ask  this  favor  of  one  who  had 
already  granted  him  so  much.  He  had  recourse  to  earnest 
prayer,  and,  when  he  rose  from  his  knees,  he  called  his  priests 
to  him,  and  requested  them  to  take  Mizlav  aside,  and,  with 
due  moderation  make  known  his  request.  It  cost  him  a  hard 
struggle  to  make  the  sacrifice,  and  to  give  up  so  large  a  sum 
of  money.  Yet,  after  conflicting  with  himself,  he  yielded. 
He  went  with  tears  to  the  bishop,  and  said  to  him:  "Yes  ; 
for  the  sake  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  if  he  require  it,  I  will  sur- 
render my  body  and  all  I  have  in  devout  obedience."  The 
example  of  this  powerful  noble  roused  all  the  rest  to  emula- 
tion, so  that  every  one,  according  to  his  station,  sought  to 
evince  the  genuineness  of  his  conversion  by  his  works,  and 
the  sacrifices  he  made. 

Otto  himself  would  with  joy  have  sacrificed  his  life  for  the 
love  of  Christ.  He  longed  for  the  croAvn  of  martyrdom,  and 
his  zeal  carried  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  moderation. 

With  anxious  looks  he  regarded  tho  island  of  Rugen,  dis- 
tant about  one  day's  sail,  and  an  earnest  desire  arose  in  his 
mind  to  go  forth  as  a  witness  of  the  fiiith  among  the  warlike 
inhabitants  of  this  island,  who  were  a  tribe  still  zealously  at- 
tached to  paganism.  But  here  death  threatened  him.  The 
islanders  vowed  death  to  the  enemy  of  their  gods,  should  he 
venture  to  come  to  their  shores.  But  imminent  danger  could 
not  keep  back  the  intrepid  missionary.  He  would  gladly 
meet  death  for  the  cause  of  Christ.     The  duke  of  Pomerania, 


OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA.  513 

and  all  his  friends,  tried  in  vain  to  detain  him ;  in  vain  they 
represented  to  him  that  his  life  might  be  preserved  for  greater 
usefulness.  He  called  this  little  faith,  saying  that  a  man 
must  seal  the  christian  faith  rather  by  works  than  by  words. 
"  How  could  the  publishers  of  the  gospel,"  he  exclaimed, 
"  expect  the  reward  of  eternal  life,  if  they  were  afraid  to 
give  up  the  present?  And,  supposing  that  we  were  all 
obliged  to  die  for  Christ's  sake,  in  publishing  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen,  would  not  our  testimony  be  so  much  the 
more  glorious,  since  it  would  be  sealed  by  our  blood  ? "  As 
endeavors  were  made  to  prevent,  by  every  method,  his  de- 
parture to  E-ugen,  he  meditated  some  way  of  going  unob- 
served, and  it  was,  therefore,  needful  to  watch  his  movements 
closely.  Yet,  while  most  persons  censured  Otto's  glowing 
zeal  as  not  sufficiently  discreet,  one  of  his  priests,  Ulrich, 
felt  himself  impelled  to  engage  in  a  work  for  which  he  him- 
self was  ready  to  sacrifice  his  own  life. 

After  receiving  the  bishop's  blessing,  he  went  on  board, 
but  had  to  combat  incessantly  with  wind  and  rain.  Three 
times  he  was  obliged  to  give  way  to  the  fury  of  the  elements, 
and  as  soon  as  the  violence  of  the  storm  was  somewhat 
abated,  he  would  again  make  the  attempt  to  pass  over  to  the 
Isle  of  Rugen.  Thus  he  spent  seven  days  in  conflict  with 
the  tempest  and  waves,  and  several  times  was  in  great 
danger.  But  as  the  weather  continued  unfavorable,  and  the 
vessel  sprung  a-leak,  at  last  the  bishop  himself  considered 
this  a  token  of  the  Divine  will  against  the  undertaking,  and 
recalled  his  beloved  priest  from  the  shore,  while  he  thanked 
God  that  He  had  granted  him  such  great  fiith  and  resolution. 

The  manner  in  which  the  bishop's  project  was  freely  dis- 
cussed by  his  clergy,  and  in  which  he  received  their  censure, 
shows  the  beautiful  relation  which  here  existed  between  the 
superior  and  his  subordinates  ;  the  frankness  of  the  clergy, 
the  gentleness  and  humility  of  the  bishop.  At  their  common 
meal  the  clergy  began,  in  the  presence  of  their  bishop,  to 
joke  about  Ulrich's  voyage.  "  Who,"  said  they,  "  would 
have  been  guilty  of  murder  if  he  had  lost  his  life  ?" 
Another,  who  had  been  strongly  opposed  to  the  undertaking, 

33 


514  OTTO,     APOSTLE    OF    POMEEANIA. 

said,  "Who  could  with  greater  justice  be  chargeable  with 
the  guilt  of  murder  than  he  who  moved  him  to  rush  into 
such  danger  ?" 

The  bishop,  not  taking  this  amiss,  endeavored  to  vindicate 
himself  against  the  imputatign.  "  When  the  Lord,"  he  said, 
"  sent  his  disciples  as  sheep  among  wolves,  and  they  were 
torn  in  pieces  by  them,  who  was  then  guilty  of  their  death  ? 
Was  it  the  Lord  ?"  This,  indeed,  was  one  of  those  applica- 
tions of  Christ's  words,  in  which  due  regard  was  not  paid  to 
theii-  original  connection  and  design.  Christ  did  not  expose 
his  disciples  to  certain  death  among  the  wolves,  but  enjoined 
on  them  to  unite  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  with  the  harm- 
lessness  of  the  dove,  in  order  to  lessen  the  danger  that 
threatened  them  from  the  wolves.  He  did  not  order  them  to 
sacrifice  their  lives,  without  an  object  and  advantage,  but  to 
preserve  it  in  and  for  their  calling,  and  only  to  resign  it 
when  fidelity  to  that  calling  required. 

A  correct  understanding  of  the  injunctions  which  Christ 
gave  his  apostles  in  reference  to  the  duties  of  their  calling, 
would  rather  have  withheld  the  pious  bishop  from  yielding 
to  the  imjDulse  of  such  enthusiastic  zeal. 

There  was  another  instance  in  which  Otto  justly  ventured 
every  thing  in  order  to  obtain  a  victory  for  the  gospel ;  for 
here  he  might  expect  a  happy  result  if  he  dreaded  no  danger, 
while  trusting  in  the  Lord.  It  was  the  continuation  of  the 
work  he  had  begun,  in  which  he  w^as  obliged  to  risk  his  life, 
relying  on  the  protection  of  Him  to  whose  service  his  life 
was  consecrated.  The  prosperity  of  the  church  in  Pomerania, 
depended  entirely  on  determining  whether  paganism  should 
retain  the  predominance,  or  Christianity  triumph  in  Stettin, 
the  capital  city.  The  power  of  paganism  had  revived  there ; 
those  priests  who  had  received  baptism  on  Otto's  first  visit 
remained  heathen  at  heart,  and  they  had  lost  too  much  by 
the  change  of  religion  to  be  able  easily  to  suppress  their 
vexation.  It  was  not  difficult  for  them  to  find  means  to 
work  upon  the  mass  of  the  rude  people.  An  epidemic  that 
spread  among  both  men  and  beasts,  of  which  many  died,  was 
regarded  by  them  as  a  sign  of  the  wrath  of  the  gods,  and 


OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA.  515 

they  could  easily  induce  the  deluded  multitude  to  believe 
this.  Their  influence  succeeded  so  far  that  the  people 
banded  together  to  demolish  a  christian  church.  The  most 
alarming  representations  were  now  circulated  of  the  fury  of 
the  pagans  in  Stettin,  and  of  tlje  danger  that  threatened  all 
who  ventured  to  come  forward  in  behalf  of  Christianity. 
Otto  was  not  alarmed,  but  his  clergy  had  not  equal  strength 
of  faith,  and  fear  held  them  back. 

Otto  could  not  overcome  their  opposition  by  his  remon- 
strances, and  he  resolved  to  act  alone  in  the  matter.  After 
spending  a  day  in  solitude,  he  stole  away  in  the  evening, 
and  he  was  not  missed  till  they  wished  to  call  him  to  the 
early  morning  service.  Seized  with  shame  and  anxiety  for 
their  spiritual  father,  they  hastened  after  him,  and  obliged 
him  to  return ;  but  the  next  morning  they  set  out  with  him 
and  sailed  for  Stettin. 

It  was  not  yet  known  how  the  seed  scattered  by  this  mis- 
sionary, which  seemed  to  have  perished,  remained  and  ger- 
minated in  secret.  A  reaction  of  the  Christianity  already 
deeply  implanted  in  the  minds  of  many,  at  last  effected, 
under  a  combination  of  favorable  circumstances,  its  victory 
over  paganism.  It  appeared  the  Divine  principle  had  gained 
an  entrance  among  the  better  educated,  higher  class  of 
persons.  On  them  the  heathen  priests  could  not  so  easily 
operate,  and  among  them  reviving  paganism  could  find  no 
point  of  connection  ;  only  they  did  not  venture  to  come 
forward  against  the  clamor  of  the  raging  multitude. 

In  the  popular  uproar  which  had  for  its  object  the  demoli- 
tion of  a  church,  it  so  happened  that  one  of  the  persons  who 
took  an  active  part  in  it,  while  aiming  a  blow  with  a  hammer, 
was  suddenly  seized  as  if  with  a  fainting  fit.  His  hand  was 
paralyzed.  He  let  the  hammer  drop,  and  fell  himself  from 
the  ladder.  He  probably  belonged  to  the  number  of  apostate 
christians.  The  fiiith,  which  was  not  entirely  expelled  from 
his  soul  perhaps,  again  asserted  its  power  ;  hence  a  mental 
conflict  arose,  terror  seized  him  and  palsied  his  hand  when 
he  attempted  to  join  in  destroying  the  temple  dedicated  to  the 
God  of  the  christians.      Still  paganism  swayed  his  soul.     He 


516 


OTTO,    APOSTLE    OF    POMERANIA. 


could  not  renounce  the  worship  of  his  ancient  gods  ;  but  at 
the  same  time  the  God  whose  temple  they  wished  to  demolish, 
appeared  to  him  as  a  being  against  whom  no  human  power 
could  avail,  as  it  was  proved,  and  hence  he  advised,  in  order 
to  be  on  good  terms  with  all  the  divinities,  that  near  this 
church  altars  should  be  erected  to  the  gods  of  the  country. 
This  was  often  a  bridge  which  led  from  heathenism  to 
Christianity,  when  the  pagans  began  first  of  all  to  acknowledge 
the  God  of  the  christians  as  a  powerful  deity,  together  with 
their  ancient  gods. 

By  all  these  favorable  circumstances,  preparation  was  made 
for  Otto's  renewed  labors  in  Stettin,  and  he  found  here  a 
zealous  friend,  who,  by  the  experiences  of  his  own  life,  had 
become  a  courageous  professor  of  the  gospel,  viz. :  "VVittstock. 

But  Otto  knew  nothing  of  all  these  occurrences.  He  went 
to  meet  the  threatening  danger,  not  in  dependence  on  human 
means  and  the  cooperation  of  circumstances,  but  confiding  in 
God  alone  and  with  resignation  to  his  will,  and  regarding  his  life 
as  of  little  value,  compared  with  the  holy  cause  which  he  served. 

At  first,  he  found  a  place  of  refuge  with  his  associates  in 
the  church  built  before  the  city.  But  a  band  of  armed  men, 
led  on  by  the  priests,  surrounded  the  church,  and  threatened 
death  and  destruction  to  those  gathered  there.  Here  it  was 
shown,  however,  how  the  power  of  faith  gives  true  presence 
of  mind,  and  with  it  the  requisite  prudence  in  those  decisive 
moments  when  every  thing  for  the  future  depends  on  right 
action  at  the  time.  Had  Otto  been  alarmed  and  showed 
signs  of  fear,  his  furious  adversaries  would  have  proceeded 
further  in  their  attempts  ;  but  by  his  calm  confidence  and 
courage  their  rage  was  overpowered. 

He  continued  to  labor  for  a  time,  and  persecution  still 
continued,  but  still  he  wavered  not.  He  was  far  from 
shrinking  from  martyrdom,  and  he  would  willingly  have  ex- 
tended his  labors  to  the  Isle  of  Rugen,  if  he  had  not  been 
called  back  by  the  concerns  of  his  own  diocese  in  1128. 
His  work  was  not  yet  done,  and  he  went  on  faithfully  to 
perform  it,  till  his  heavenly  Master  called  him  home  to 
Himself  in  glory. 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

^aimui;!tr  f  nil, 

HIS  BIRTH-PLACE ;   CHARACTER  OE  HIS  EARLY  LIEE ;   PECULIAR  MEOTAL 

CONSTITUTION  INFLUENCES  HIS  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  ;  L.^ORS  IN 

VARIOUS  PLACES  ;  FINALLY  STONED  TO  DEATH. 

HIS    extraordinary  man   was    awakened   to    the 

higher  life  in  a  very  peculiar  manner.     He  was 

'\B   possessed  of   noble   qualities,   and  high   mental 

endowments,  such  as  seldom  meet  in  one  person, 

and  all  was  adorned  with  a  glow  of  holy  love. 

We  see  in  his  example  how  much  greatness  may  be  dor- 
mant in  a  human  being  till,  by  a  ray  of  light  from  on  high 
beaming  upon  him,  it  is  brought  into  conscious  activity. 

Various  talents  are  required  for  missionary  labor  which 
must  be  animated  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  nor  can  every  man  do 
every  thing  under  all  circumstances.  Indeed,  the  greatest 
effect  proceeds  from  the  power  of  the  simple  gospel,  from 
the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power  which  accom- 
panies these  fundamental  truths  in  the  hearts  of  men. 

But  among  nations  possessing  scientific  culture,  where 
their  culture  has  hitherto  been  in  the  service  of  a  religious 
stand-point  to  Christianity,  the  example  of  a  Paul  is  a  Avit- 
ness  to  this,  and  many  examples  in  the  first  ages  of  the 
church  also  witness  to  it.  And  in  such  a  connection  this 
man  of  great  mental  power,  Raimund  Lull,  is  to  be  men- 
tioned, who  in  all  his  deep  thinking  kept  this  especially  in 
view,  how  he  might  find  means  to  bring  reason  entirely  into 
the  obedience  of  the  faith. 

He  was  born  in  the  Island  of  Majorca,  in  the  year  12-36. 
Till  his  thirtieth  year,  he  led  a  life  estranged  from  all  higher 
aspirations,  in  the  court  of  the  king  of  the  Balearic  Islands. 
And  after  his  marriage,  he  continued  to  indulge  in  pleasure 
with  a  violation  of  matrimonial  fidelity. 

His  poetry  was  devoted  to  sensual  love.     In  his  work  on 

(517) 


518  RAIMUND    LULL. 

Divine  contemplation,  he  mourns  over  the  loss  of  the  first 
part  of  his  life.  "  When  we  see,  O  God,  the  trees  first  of  all 
bring  forth  leaves  and  twigs,  and  then  blossoms,  and  after 
the  blossoms  fruit,  it  intimates  that  we  should  first  of  all  give 
the  signs  of  a  good  life  ;  then  our  good  works  must  be  seen, 
as  we  see  the  blossoms  follow  the  leaves  ;  and  then  the  ad- 
vantages which  our  good  works  bring  must  show  themselves, 
as  fruits  proceed  from  the  blossoms.  If  trees  are  beautiful 
and  good  because  they  bring  forth  twigs,  leaves,  blossoms  and 
fruit,  how  much  better  and  more  beautiful  are  men  when 
they  perform  works  of  love,  and  glorify  their  Creator, — God. 

"  Trees  and  plants  follow  the  law  of  their  destiny  in  what 
they  do,  Avhen  step  by  step  they  bring  forth  twigs,  leaves, 
flowers  and  fruit ;  but  it  is  not  so  with  us,  for  we  do  the 
contrary  ;  as  we  see  every  day  that  we  do  that  in  youth 
which  we  ought  to  do  in  old  age ;  and  do  that  in  old  age 
which  we  ought  to  do  in  youth. 

"I  see,  O  Lord,  that  the  trees  every  year  bring  forth 
flowers  and  fruits  by  which  men  are  refreshed  and  nour- 
ished ;  but  it  is  not  so  with  me  a  sinner.  For  thirty  years  I 
have  borne  no  fruit  in  the  world;  yea,  rather  I  have  in- 
jured my  neighbors  and  friends.  If,  therefore,  the  tree 
which  is  destitute  of  reason  brings  forth  more  fruit  than  I 
have  done,  I  must  be  deeply  ashamed,  and  acknowledge  my 
great  guilt.  To  thee,  my  God,  I  return  many  thanks,  because 
I  perceive  a  great  difference  between  the  works  I  used  to 
perform  in  my  youth,  and  those  I  now  do  in  my  declining 
age.  For  as  then  all  my  works  were  done  in  sin  and  in  fel- 
lowship with  sin,  so  now,  I  hope,  by  thy  grace,  my  works, 
contemplations,  and  wishes,  relate  to  glorifying  thee."  But 
the  feelings  of  christian  piety  which,  as  they  moved  his  age 
and  people,  were  communicated  to  him  by  education,  had 
still  not  lost  all  their  influence  over  him,  though  mingled 
with  predominant  sensuality. 

We  here  see,  as  in  many  other  instances,  the  great  blessing 
of  pious  influences  on  the  development  of  childhood,  which, 
in  a  life  carried  away  by  sensual  desires  and  passions,  may 
revive  again    at   last.     So  it  was   with    Lull.     From  these 


KAIMUND    LULL.  519 

influences  the  opposition  proceeded  against  that  which  had 
hitherto  animated  his  hfe.  When  one  night  he  sat  on  his 
bed  and  wished  to  make  an  amatory  poem,  the  image  of  the 
crucified  Saviour  was  presented  to  his  eyes,  and  made  so 
powerful  an  impression  upon  him  that  he  could  think  no  more 
of  his  love  song.  He  wished  not  to  give  it  up  ;  he  began 
again,  but  that  image  came  before  him  again  still  more  viv- 
idly, and  at  last  he  was  obliged  to  desist  from  his  intended 
composition^  Day  and  night  that  image  floated  before  him, 
and  he  could  not  shake  off  the  impression.  We  must,  indeed, 
acknowledge,  when  we  consider  the  manifold  dealings  of  Di- 
vine grace  with  the  souls  of  men,  whom  Divine  love  follows 
in  order  to  redeem,  that  although  the  power  of  the  Divine 
over  the  heart  is  always  the  same,  yet  the  manner  in  which 
*  the  impression  of  it  is  rendered  conscious  depends  on  the 
peculiarity  of  the  mental  constitution  and  the  temperament ; 
and  thus  conversion  is  effected  either  more  gradually,  or  at 
once  by  a  great  revolution.  In  the  case  of  Lull,  the  man  of 
poetic  spirit,  in  whom  imagination  predominated,  in  whom 
the  power  of  the  Divine  came  forth  in  opposition  to  the 
earlier  ruling  power  of  sensual  passion,  the  Divine  power  of 
the  impression  which  the  image  of  Christ  made  on  his  heart 
was  represented  in  the  form  of  a  vision.  He  received  it  as 
an  admonition  that  he  should  withdraw  himself  from  the 
world,  and  devote  himself  entirely  to  the  service  of  Christ. 
But  now  the  question  arose  in  his  mind — "  How  shall  I  turn 
away  from  my  hitherto  impure  life  to  so  holy  a  calling  ?" 
This  thought  gave  him  no  rest  at  night.  Then  he  said  to 
himself,  "  Christ  is  so  gentle,  patient  and  merciful ;  he  calls 
all  sinners  to  him,  and  will  not  reject  me,  notwithstanding 
my  sins."  Thus  he  became  certain  that  it  was  God's  will 
that  he  should  forsake  the  world,  and  devote  himself  with 
his  whole  heart  to  the  service  of  Christ. 

Having  resolved  to  dedicate  himself  wholly  to  the  Lord, 
he  proceeded  to  consider  in  what  way  this  resolution  might 
be  best  carried  out,  and  he  came  to  the  firm  conviction  that 
he  could  engage  in  no  employment  more  pleasing  to  the  Sa- 
viour than  devoting  his  life  to  the  publication  of  the  gospel. 


520  KAIMUND    LULL. 

His  attention  was  directed  particularly  to  the  Saracens,  whom 
it  had  been  in  vain  attempted  to  subdue  entirely  in  the  Cru- 
sades by  the  power  of  the  sword.  But  now  the  doubt  forci- 
bly struck  him,  how  could  he,  an  uninstructed  layman,  be  fit 
for  such  a  work  ?  AVhile  he  was  filled  with  deep  sorrow  on 
this  account,  the  thought  occurred  to  him  to  write  a  book 
which  might  serve  to  prove  the  truth  in  opposition  to  all  the 
errors  of  unbelievers.  He  believed  that  he  could  here  recog- 
nize a  Divine  call,  to  prove  the  agreement  between  the  truth 
of  revealed  religion  and  that  which  is  founded  in  the  nature 
of  the  human  mind.  The  heavenly  power  of  love,  by  which 
he  was  now  seized,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  his  thinking. 
Yet  again  he  asked  himself,  supposing  he  should  succeed  in 
writing  such  a  book,  what  good  would  this  do  the  Saracens, 
who  only  understood  the  Arabic  language.  And  thus  the 
plan  arose  in  his  mind  to  apply  to  the  pope  and  the  christian 
princes  that  they  would  found  institutions  in  the  convents  for 
learning  the  Arabic  and  the  other  languages  which  prevailed 
among  nations  that  were  not  christian.  The  study  of  lan- 
guages ought  to  serve  the  work  of  Divine  grace,  and  he 
thought  if  institutions  could  be  founded  in  which  instruction 
in  the  different  tongues  could  be  given,  then  missionaries 
could  go  forth  into  all  parts. 

On  the  day  following  he  repaired  to  a  neighboring  church, 
and  besought  the  Lord  with  many  tears  that  he  mIio  had  in- 
fused this  thought  into  his  mind  might  enable  him  to  com- 
plete that  work  for  the  vindication  of  Christianity  ;  to  bring 
about  the  establishment  of  these  missionary  schools  for  lan- 
guages ;  and,  lastly,  to  devote  his  life  to  the  Lord's  cause. 
This  happened  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  July ;  but 
the  higher  life  in  his  soul  had  still  to  go  through  many  fluc- 
tuations before  it  could  reach  a  confirmed  state. 

Old  habits  were  still  too  powerful  in  him,  and  so  it  came 
to  pass  that  for  three  months  he  proceeded  no  further  in  re- 
alizing these  plans,  which  had  interested  him  so  deejily. 

Then  came  the  fourth  of  October,  the  feast  of  St.  Francis, 
and  he  heard  a  bishop  preach  in  the  church  of  the  Francis- 
cans, at  Majorca,  on  the  renunciation  of  the  world.     This 


EAIMUND    LULL.  521 

discourse  was  the  means  of  reviving  afresh  what  had  been  lying 
dormant  in  his  soul.  He  immediately  sold  his  possessions, 
surrendered  himself  to  Christ,  and  left  his  home  with  the 
intention  of  never  returning  again.  He  first  visited  several 
churches,  in  which  he  called  upon  God  for  his  blessing  in  the 
execution  of  those  plans  which  had  so  forcibly  occupied  his 
thoughts. 

He  then  wished  to  visit  Paris,  in  order,  by  pursuing  his 
studies  at  the  university,  to  acquire  the  knowledge  which  was 
requisite  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  plans.  But  he  was 
withheld  from  effecting  this  intention  through  the  influence 
of  his  relations  and  friends.  He  remained,  therefore,  in  Ma- 
jorca, and  began  his  studies  there,  being  instructed  in  Arabic 
by  a  Saracen.  The  highest  point  of  interest  in  his  researches 
was  the  vindication  of  the  truths  of  religion.  If  he  succeeded, 
he  thought,  in  refuting  the  objections  of  learned  Mahommed- 
ans  against  clmstianity,  and  they  could  not  refute  the  argu- 
ments for  the  truth  which  he  brought  forward,  they  must,  of 
course,  be  converted  to  Christianity ;  but,  in  this  expectation 
he  trusted  too  much  to  the  power  of  his  arguments.  The 
promotion  of  missions  was  a  main  object  with  him,  and  to 
this  the  learning  of  languages  would  contribute.  He  ob- 
tained from  James,  king  of  Majorca  and  Minorca,  that  on  the 
former  of  these  islands  a  convent  should  be  founded,  on  the 
express  condition  that  thirteen  Franciscans  in  it  should 
always  be  instructed  in  the  Arabic  language,  in  order  to  labor 
as  missionaries  among  the  Saracens.  In  the  year  1286,  he 
visited  Rome  in  order  to  gain  the  sanction  of  Pope  Honorius 
IV.,  that  in  all  countries  such  missionary  schools  should  be 
attached  to  the  convents  ;  but  he  found  the  pope  no  longer 
living,  and  the  papal  chair  vacant. 

And  when  he  visited  Rome  the  second  time  for  the  same 
purpose,  he  was  equally  unsuccessful. 

How  great  his  desire  was  that  schools  for  language  in  aid 
of  missions  should  be  established  appears  from  those  words 
in  which  he  laments  that,  with  all  the  pious  zeal  that  existed, 
so  little  was  done  for  the  conversion  of  unbelievers.  "  I 
daily  see,"  said  he,  in  his  work  on  the  contemplation  of  God, 


522  EAIMUND    LULL. 

**  pious  monks,  Franciscans,  Dominicans,  and  others,  daily 
fatiguing  themselves  with  our  defects  and  sins,  while  they 
endeavor,  by  their  sermons,  day  and  night,  to  draw  us  away 
from  sin,  to  excite  to  goodness,  and  to  establish  love  amongst 
us.  I  see  monks  taking  up  their  abode  in  lonely,  wild  dis- 
tricts, in  order  not  to  be  tempted  by  the  sins  which  prevail 
among  us  ;  I  see  them  plow  and  cultivate  the  land,  in  order 
to  maintain  themselves  and  the  poor ;  and  I  see  them  rise  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  to  sing  thy  praises,  0  Lord ! 

AVe  see  hermits  fleeing  from  the  vanities  of  this  world, 
withdrawn  to  mountains  and  uninhabited  places,  live  on 
herbs,  renounce  worldly  pleasures,  and  spend  their  whole  life 
in  loving  and  praising  thee,  OLord,  and  in  meditation  on  thy 
goodness  and  holiness. 

I  see  monks  and  nuns  forsake  the  world,  that  they  may  be 
partakers  of  glory  in  another ;  and,  although  they  endure  in 
their  bodies  much  pain  and  toil,  yet  they  escape  much  anxiety 
and  distress  which  we  people  of  the  world  suffer  in  our  souls, 
because  we  are  in  the  world  and  love  the  world.  But  I  look 
round  carefully,  and,  as  far  as  I  have  examined,  I  find  scarcely 
any  one  who,  out  of  love  to  thee,  O  Lord,  is  ready  to  suffer 
martyrdom,  as  thou  hast  suffered  for  us.  It  appears  to  me 
agreeable  to  reason,  if  an  ordinance  to  that  effect  could  be 
obtained,  that  the  monks  should  learn  various  languages,  that 
they  might  be  able  to  go  out  and  surrender  their  lives  in  love 
to  thee.  Since,  in  our  day,  we  see  many  of  holy  lives,  and 
great  wisdom,  I  pray  thee,  O  Lord,  that  I  may  also  see  in  my 
day  that  they  form  institutions  in  order  to  learn  various  lan- 
guages, and  be  able  to  preach  to  unbelievers.  Lord  of  glory, 
if  that  blessed  day  should  ever  be  in  which  I  might  see  thy 
servants  so  influenced  by  zeal  to  glorify  thee,  as  to  go  into 
foreign  lands  in  order  to  testify  of  thy  Holy  Trinity,  of  thy 
blessed  incarnation,  and  of  thy  bitter  sufferings,  that  would 
be  a  glorious  day,  a  day  on  which  that  glow  of  devotion 
would  return  with  which  the  holy  apostles  met  death  for  their 
Lord." 

As  Lull  was  not  able  to  form,  as  he  wished,  any  association 
for  this  holy  undertaking,  he  felt  himself  impelled  to  go  all 


EAIMUND    LULL.  523 

alone  among  unbelievers,  and,  in  the  year  1281,  lie  went  to 
Genoa,  in  order  to  sail  from  that  place  to  North  Africa.  As 
already  so  much  had  been  heard  of  the  remarkable  chansre 
that  had  passed  over  him,  of  his  ardent  zeal  for  the  conver- 
sion of  those  who  knew  not  God,  his  undertaking  awakened 
great  expe'ctations.  But  he  had  still  many  a  hard  conflict  to 
sustain ;  the  natural  man  still  exerted  its  power  over  him. 
That  imagination  which  was  filled  with  transporting  images 
by  the  holy  cause  that  inspired  him,  in  which  the  glory  of 
his  inner  life  was  reflected,  could  also  be  stirred  up  by  the 
impulses  of  the  natural  man,  and  receive  into  itself  images 
of  another  kind ;  the  fear  of  the  natural  man  could  be  re- 
flected in  it. 

It  could  operate  in  a  variety  of  ways,  according  as  it  stood  in 
the  service  of  a  higher  or  lower  power.  Already  the  vessel  in 
which  he  was  to  embark  was  ready  for  sailing ;  his  books  were 
put  on  board,  when  his  fervent  imaginative  faculty  depicted  to 
him  the  fate  which  he  might  experience  among  the  Mohammed- 
ans in  so  vivid  and  terrific  a  manner  that  he  could  not  summon 
courage  to  go  on  board.  Yet,  when  the  vessel  had  sailed,  the 
reproaches  of  his  conscience  took  possession  of  him  for  being 
unfaithful  to  the  holy  resolutions  God  had  incited  him  to 
make,  and  for  having  given  such  offense  to  believers  in  Ge- 
noa. A  severe  illness  was  the  consequence  of  this  mental 
conflict.  While  he  had  to  suffer  so  much  in  mind  and  body, 
it  happened  that  he  heard  a  ship  had  entered  the  port,  which 
was  on  the  point  of  sailing  to  Tunis.  Although  he  seemed 
more  dead  than  alive,  he  allowed  himself  to  be  carried  on 
board,  with  his  books.  As  his  friends  considered  it  impossi- 
ble that,  in  such  a  state,  he  could  bear  the  voyage,  they 
brought  him  back,  full  of  concern. 

Yet,  with  all  the  care  taken  of  his  body,  his  state  of  health 
showed  no  symptoms  of  improvement ;  for  the  root  of  the 
evil  lay  in  his  soul.  When,  some  time  after,  he  heard  of  a 
second  ship  bound  for  Tunis,  nothing  could  keep  him  back 
from  being  taken  into  it.  And,  when  the  ship  had  set  sail, 
he  felt  relieved  from  the  burden  that  oppressed  his  conscience, 
for  he  found  himself  in  his  element ;  he  had  entered  on  the 


524  EAIMUND    LULL. 

fulfillment  of  his  calling,  which  he  felt  confident  was  a  Di- 
vine one.  With  the  health  of  the  soul,  that  of  the  body  re- 
turned. In  a  few  days,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  his  fellow- 
passengers,  he  felt  as  well  as  he  had  ever  been  in  his  life. 

When  he  arrived  in  Tunis,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1291, 
or  the  beginning  of  the  year  1292,  he  assembled  the  Moham- 
medan doctors,  and  explained  to  them  that  he  was  come  in 
order  to  institute  a  comparison  between  Christianity  and  their 
doctrine.  If  he  found  the  arguments  stronger  in  supjaort  of 
the  latter,  he  would  become  a  convert  to  it. 

The  doctors  assembled  in  great  numbers,  but  during  the 
disputation,  one  of  them,  who  was  filled  with  extreme  fanati- 
cism, pointed  out  to  the  king  the  dangers  that  would  arise  to 
their  own  faith  from  the  proselyting  zeal  of  Lull,  and  pro- 
posed that  he  should  be  put  to  death.  He  was  cast  into 
prison,  and  would  have  been  condemned  to  death,  but  one 
of  the  Saracenic  doctors,  more  unprejudiced  and  wiser  than 
the  rest,  interceded  for  him.  He  commended  his  spirit,  and 
said,  that  as  the  zeal  of  a  Mohammedan,  who  should  go 
among  christians  to  convert  them  to  the  true  faith,  would  be 
deemed  praiseworthy,  so  they  could  not  hesitate  to  honor  in 
a  christian  such  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  that  religion 
which  appeared  to  him  the  true  one.  These  representations 
succeeded  so  far  that  the  life  of  the  missionary  was  spared, 
and  he  was  only  ordered  to  leave  the  country.  When  re- 
leased from  prison,  he  met  with  much  ill-treatment  from  the 
fanatical  people.  He  was  conveyed  to  the  Genoese  vessel  in 
which  he  had  come,  and  which  was  soon  to  sail,  and  informed 
at  the  same  time  that  if  he  showed  himself  again  in  the  ter- 
ritory of  Tunis,  he  would  be  stoned.  But  since  he  hoped  by 
continued  exertions  to  convert  many  of  the  Saracenic  doctors 
with  whom  he  had  disputed,  and  his  anxiety  for  the  welfare 
of  their  souls  was  so  great,  he  could  not  make  up  his  mind 
to  let  that  hope  be  frustrated.  Gladly  would  he  have  sacri- 
ficed his  life  for  such  an  object. 

He  allowed  that  vessel  to  sail  without  him,  went  on  board 
another,  and  sought  for  an  opportunity  to  steal  from  it  unob- 
served into  Tunis.     In  September,  1292,  while  he  was  thus 


RAIMUND    LULL.  525 

lying  in  the  Bay  of  Tunis,  he  had  sufficient  composure  of 
mind  to  engage  in  preparing  a  philosophical  work.  After 
waiting  here  for  three  weeks  in  vain,  he  at  last  sailed  in  the 
vessel,  and  went  to  Naples.  Here  he  spent  several  years, 
and  gave  lectures  on  his  peculiar  system  of  philosophy,  till 
the  call  of  a  pious  hermit,  Peter  of  Myrrhone,  who  had  been 
made  pope  by  the  name  of  Celestine  V.,  gave  him  hopes  that 
he  might  at  last  engage  in  the  work  which  he  had  so  long 
wished,  for  the  promotion  of  missionary  undertakings.  But 
Celestine's  government  was  too  brief,  and  his  successor,  Boni- 
face VIII.,  felt  too  little  interest  in  religious  concerns. 

During  his  residence  at  Rome  in  the  year  1296,  he  com- 
posed a  work  which  was  closely  related  to  his  missionary 
projects,  in  which  he  aimed  at  demonstrating  incontrovertibly 
the  fundamental  truths  of  the  christian  religion.  Although 
he  thought  too  highly  of  his  proofs,  yet  this  was  owing  to  the 
strength  of  his  own  faith. 

We  must  highly  esteem  the  confidence  of  the  conviction 
that  there  could  be  no  division  in  the  human  mind ;  that  the 
truth  which  to  him  was  supreme,  and  corresponded  to  all  the 
wants  of  his  spirit,  must  stand  in  harmony  with  the  reason 
and  disposition  of  man.  We  can  but  reverence  the  man, 
whose  exertions  were  sustained  by  the  incentive  that  Chris- 
tianity was  destined  to  conquer  the  opposition  of  all  minds, 
and  become  the  religion  of  all  nations. 

Being  unable  to  attain  his  object  in  Rome,  he  labored  for 
a^uccession  of  years,  wherever  an  opening  presented  itself; 
he  endeavored  to  convince  by  argument  the  Saracens  and 
Jews  in  the  Island  of  Majorca ;  he  visited  Cyprus,  and  pro- 
ceeded thence  to  Armenia,  where  he  labored  to  bring  back  to  the 
orthodox  faith  the  various  sects  of  the  Oriental  church.  All 
this  he  undertook  with  only  one  associate,  without  being  able 
to  gain  the  assistance  of  the  powerful  and  opulent.  At  in- 
tervals, he  delivered  lectures  on  his  philosophical  system,  in 
the  universities  of  France  and  Italy,  and  composed  various 
works. 

During  the  years  1306  and  7,  he  traveled  again  in  North 
Africa,  and  visited  the  town  of  Buggia,  at  that  time  the 


526  KAIMUND    LULL. 

capital  of  a  Mohammedan  kingdom.  He  came  forward  pub- 
licly, and  declared  in  the  Arabic  language,  that  Christianity 
was  the  only  true  religion,  and  that  Mohammed's  doctrine 
was  false. 

He  wished  to  convince  every  one  of  this.  A  great  crowd 
assembled  around  him,  and  he  delivered  to  them  hortatory 
addresses.  Many  raised  their  hands  to  stone  him,  when  a 
mufti  who  heard  it,  hurried  him  away  from  the  multitude, 
and  called  him  into  his  presence.  He  asked  him  how  he 
could  act  so  madly  as  to  appear  publicly  against  their 
doctrine,  and  whether  he  did  not  know  that  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  land  his  conduct  was  punishable  with  death. 

To  this  Lull  calmly  replied  :  "A  genuine  servant  of  Christ, 
who  has  experienced  in  himself  the  truth  of  his  faith,  feels 
no  dread  of  death,  if  he  can  secure  his  soul's  salvation." 

Upon  this  they  entered  into  a  disputation  on  the  relation 
of  the  two  religions  to  one  another,  and  Lull  testified  boldly 
of  his  faith.  It  was  at  last  settled,  at  his  proposal,  that  a 
book  should  be  written  on  both  sides  in  defense  of  their 
respective  religions,  and  it  would  then  appear  which  had 
gained  the  victory  by  the  arguments  brought  forward.  Lull 
composed  such  a  work,  and  sent  it  to  the  mufti  in  order  that 
he  and  other  learned  Mohammedans  might  examine  the  book 
and  answer  it.  But  after  a  few  days,  an  order  was  issued  to 
banish  him  from  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Sara- 
cens put  him  on  board  a  vessel  that  was  sailing  for  Genoa. 
The  vessel  was  shipwrecked  not  flir  from  Pisa ;  some  of  the 
passengers  were  drowned ;  but  Lull  escaped  with  the  loss  of 
his  books  and  all  his  property. 

On  the  14th  of  August,  1314,  he  again  crossed  over  to 
Africa.  He  went  to  Buggia,  and  labored  here  first  of  all  in 
secret,  in  the  small  circle  of  those  persons  whom  he  had  won 
over  to  Christianity  during  his  last  sojourn. 

He  endeavored  to  strengthen  their  faith,  and  to  advance 
them  further  in  christian  kftowledge.  Thus  he  might  have 
continued  to  labor,  for  a  long  time  unnoticed,  but  he  could  not 
repress  the  desire  for  martyrdom.  He  appeared  in  public, 
and  declared  that  he  was  the  same  person  who  had  formerly 


LINDGER.  527 

been  banished  from  the  country.  He  exhorted  the  people 
with  threatenings  of  the  Divine  punishment  if  they  refused 
to  renounce  Mohammedanism. 

He  was  attacked  by  the  Saracens  with  extreme  fury,  and 
after  being  severely  handled,  was  dragged  out  of  the  city, 
and  stoned  by  the  Icing's  command.  According  to  one  ac- 
count, some  merchants  from  Majorca,  obtained  permission  to 
search  for  the  corpse  of  their  countryman  in  the  heap  of 
stones  under  which  he  was  buried,  and  brought  it  back  to  the 
island;  according  to  another  account  they  found  some  re- 
mains of  life  in  him,  and  succeeded  in  rekindling  for  awhile 
the  sparks  of  life ;  but  he  died  on  ship-board,  within  sight 
of  his  native  country,  on  the  oOth  of  June,  1315. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THEIR  PREPARATIOX  FOR  THE  IIINISTERIAL  WORK ;  OrPOSITIOX  AND 
SUPFERIXG  IN  IT ;  CLOSING  SCENE  OF  THEIR  LIVES. 

HESE  two  men,  in  their  ministry,  knew  how  to 
present  the  model  of  genuine  missionaries. 

Lindger  was  by  birth  a  Frieslander,  and  the 
seeds  of  Christianity  were  early  sown  in  his  heart. 
His  grandfather  was  a  distinguished  man  of  that 
people,  named  Ado  Wursing,  He  belonged,  as  a  pagan,  to 
that  class  of  persons  of  whom  the  apostle  Paul  says,  that 
they  who  have  not  the  law,  and  yet  by  nature  do  the  works 
of  the  law,  are  a  law  unto  themselves  ;  those  who,  if  they 
have  received  no  other  revelation,  yet  hear  the  voice  of  God 
in  their  consciences.  He  took  care  of  the  poor  and  oppressed, 
and  was  an  upright  judge. 

But,  by  his  zeal  against  all  injustice,  he  drew  on  himself 
the  enmity  of  Radbod,  the  pagan  king  of  the  Frieslanders, 
and  was  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the  adjacent  kingdom  of 


528  LINDGEE. 

the  Franks.  He  afterward  became  a  zealous  cliristian,  and 
assisted  Willebrord  in  his  labors  among  his  countrymen. 
Lindger  was  a  grandson  of  this  pious  man.  When  a  child 
he  gave  signs  of  his  future  destination.  As  soon  as  he  be- 
gan to  read  and  walk,  he  collected  pieces  of  leather  and  the 
bark  of  trees,  and  made  them  into  little  books.  When  he 
found  any  dark  juice,  he  tried  to  write  with  it,  as  he  had  seen 
older  persons  do. 

And  when  he  was  asked  what  he  had  done  in  the  day,  he 
answered  that  he  had  been  writing  or  reading.  And,  when 
further  asked,  "  Who  taught  you  that  ? "  he  replied,  "  God 
has  taught  me." 

He  showed  early  a  great  thirst  for  knowledge,  and  entreated 
his  parents  to  intrust  him  for  education  to  some  pious  man. 
They  placed  him  under  the  care  of  the  abbot,  Gregory.  His 
desire  of  knowledge  led  him  afterward  to  resort  to  the  re- 
nowned teacher  of  his  age,  Alcuin,  at  York.  Enriched  with 
acquirements  and  books,  he  returned  to  his  native  country, 
where  he  was  welcomed  by  his  former  teacher,  Gregory. 
After  his  death  he  labored,  amidst  manifold  dangers  and  dif- 
ficulties, for  the  conversion  of  the  Frieslanders  and  Saxons. 
He  founded,  first  of  all,  a  christian  church  on  the  island 
dedicated  to  Fosite,  one  of  the  pagan  divinities,  which  hence 
received  the  name  of  Heligoland.  After  the  overthrow  of  the 
Saxons,  the  district  of  Munster  became  the  settled  scene  of 
his  ministry,  and  he  was  consecrated  bishop  of  that  place. 
His  missionary  zeal  impelled  him  to  seek  a  new  sphere  of 
labor,  attended  with  greater  danger.  He  wished  to  visit  the 
wild  Normans,  who  had  struck  the  christian  nations  with 
great  terror,  and  among  whom  he  could  reckon  on  no  support ; 
but  the  emperor,  Charles,  would  not  allow  him  to  leave  his 
diocese. 

Even  in  the  illness  which  befell  him  not  long  before  his 
death,  in  the  year  809,  he  struggled  with  his  bodily  weakness, 
in  order  not  to  interrupt  the  discharge  of  his  spiritual  duties. 
On  the  Sunday  preceding  the  night  of  his  death,  he  preached 
twice,  to  two  different  congregations ;  in  the  morning  in  the 
church  at  Coesfield,  in  the  afternoon,  about  three  o'clock,  in 


WILLEHAD.  529 

the  church  at  Billerbeck,  where  he  expended  the  remnant 
of  his  strength  in  performing  what  seemed  to  him  his  chris- 
tian duty.  He  expired,  with  his  scholars  assembled  around 
his  bed,  on  the  night  of  the  26th  of  March. 

Willehad,  from  Northumberland,  is  the  one  we  have  asso- 
ciated with  him.  By  the  report  of  what  other  missionaries 
had  effected  among  the  Frieslanders  and  Saxons,  he  was  im- 
pelled to  follow  their  example.  He  labored  first  of  all  in  the 
district  where  Boniface  had  met  with  martyrdom.  Many 
persons  were  baptized  by  him  ;  many  of  the  better  class  in- 
trusted their  children  to  him  for  education.  But  when  he 
betook  himself  to  the  province  now  called  Groningen,  where 
idolatry  still  predominated,  the  fury  of  the  pagan  population 
was  so  excited  by  his  exertions  that  they  sought  to  murder 
him.  But  by  the  advice  of  one  of  the  more  moderate  among 
them,  they  agreed  first  to  inquire  of  their  gods,  by  casting 
lots.  And,  since  even  superstition  must  serve  the  will  of 
God,  Providence  so  ordered  it  that  the  lot  was  in  favor  of 
his  preservation,  and  he  was  able  to  leave  unharmed. 

He  now  proceeded  to  the  district  of  Drenthe.  His  dis- 
courses here  had  begun  to  meet  with  much  acceptance,  when 
some  of  his  scholars  suffered  themselves  to  be  led  away  by 
intemperate  zeal,  and  hastened  to  destroy  the  idolatrous  tem- 
ples, instead  of  first  banishing,  by  the  power  of  Christ,  the 
idols  from  the  hearts  of  their  worshipers.  This  roused  the 
wrath  of  the  pagans.  They  rushed  upon  the  missionaries, 
and  Willehad  was  loaded  with  blows.  One  of  the  infuriated 
mob  aimed  a  stroke  at  him  with  a  sword,  intending  to  kill 
him,  but  the  stroke  only  cut  a  thong  by  which  a  box  was 
suspended  about  his  neck,  and  he  escaped. 

The  prevalent  notions  of  the  times  led  persons  to  see  in 
this  incident,  not  the  universal  providence  of  that  Being  who 
numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads,  and  without  whom  a  sparrow 
does  not  fall  to  the  ground,  and  who  can  make  use  of  every 
means  for  his  holy  purposes  as  he  pleases,  but  rather  a  proof  of 
the  protective  power  of  relics  which  he  had  about  him.  Even 
the  pagans  were  induced  by  it  to  abstain  from  their  attacks  on 
Willehad,  whom  they  believed  protected  by  a  higher  power. 


530  WILL  EH  AD. 

"When,  the  emperor  Charles  heard  of  the  missionary's  un- 
daunted zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  he  sent  for 
him,  and  assigned  him  his  post  in  the  district  which  after- 
ward formed  the  diocese  of  Bremen.  He  was  at  first  to  la- 
bor as  a  priest  among  the  Frieslanders  and  Saxons,  and  to 
perform  every  part  of  the  pastoral  office  till  a  bishopric  could 
be  founded.  After  a  while,  his  successful  ministry  was  in- 
terrupted by  a  fresh  revolt  of  the  heathen  population. 

He  believed  that  it  was  his  duty  to  follow  his  Lord's  com- 
mand, and  not  needlessly  to  risk  his  life.  In  order  to  pre- 
serve his  life  for  preaching  the  gospel  still  longer,  he  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunity  offered  to  him  for  flight. 

He  afterward  found  a  quiet  place  of  refuge  in  a  convent 
founded  by  Willebrord,  at  Eptemach,  which  also  became  a 
rendezvous  for  his  scholars,  who  had  been  dispersed  by  per- 
secutions and  wars.  He  spent  two  years  at  this  place,  occu- 
pied with  teaching,  reading  the  Scriptures,  and  the  multipli- 
cation of  transcripts  of  them. 

At  last,  after  peace  had  been  restored  among  the  conquered 
Saxons,  the  bishopric  intended  by  the  emperor  Charles  was 
founded  at  Bremen,  and  Willehad  Avas  installed  in  it. 
While  on  one  of  his  visitation  journeys,  which  he  was 
obliged  to  take  frequently  on  account  of  the  peculiar  charac- 
ter of  his  new  diocese,  he  fell  ill  of  a  violent  fever,  in  the  year 
789,  at  Blexem-on-the-Weser,  not  far  from  the  Wegesak, 
so  that  there  were  apprehensions  of  his  speedy  death.  His 
scholars  stood  weeping  round  his  bed.  One  of  them,  who 
was  on  very  intimate  terms  with  the  bishop,  broke  silence, 
and  with  tears  expressed  the  pain  they  would  feel  if  their 
spiritual  father  were  taken  from  them,  and  their  anxiety  for 
the  bereaved  congregations,  which  were  scarcely  won  over  to 
Christianity.  "  Oh  !  venerable  father,"  he  said,  "  do  not  leave 
those  so  soon  whom  you  have  but  lately  gained  for  the  Lord. 
Leave  not  the  congregations  and  the  clergy  destitute,  who  by 
your  zeal  have  been  brought  together,  that  the  weak  flocks 
may  not  be  given  up  to  the  attacks  of  the  wolves.  Do  not 
withdraw  your  presence  from  us,  your  poor  scholars,  that  we 
may  not  wander  about,  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd." 


EARLY    DAYS    OF    MARTYRDOM.  531 

Willehad  replied,  with  deep  emotion,  '^  Oh !  do  not  Avish, 
my  son,  that  I  should  be  any  longer  detained  from  the  presence 
of  my  Lord.  Do  not  force  me  to  remain  any  longer  in  this 
wearisome  earthly  life.  I  do  not  desire  to  live  here  any 
longer,  and  I  am  not  afraid  to  die.  I  will  only  beseech  my 
God,  whom  I  have  always  loved  with  my  whole  heart,  whom 
I  have  always  served  with  my  whole  soul,  that  he  would 
grant  me  such  a  reward  of  my  labor  as  it  may  please  him. 
But  the  sheep  which  he  committed  to  my  care,  I  trust  in  him  to 
preserve  them ;  for,  if  I  have  been  able  to  do  any  good,  I  have 
accomplished  it  by  his  power.  The  grace  of  him,  with  whose 
mercy  the  whole  earth  is  full,  will  not  be  wanting  for  you." 

Thus  does  the  pious  soul  confidently  trust  in  the  promises 
of  God,  when  the  receding  things  of  time  are  dim  to  his 
vision,  and  the  brighter  realities  of  a  coming  world  beam  in 
upon  his  mind. 

It  is  then  earthly  instrumentalities  assume  their  appropri- 
ate insignificance,  things  of  time  and  sense  appear  in  their 
true  light,  and  God  alone  worthy  of  supreme  exaltation. 

Then,  like  Willehad,  the  christian  feels,  "  If  I  have  done 
any  good,  it  is  through  the  power  of  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

(Buh  itaiis   of  Martnrirom, 

CirARACTER  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  PERSECUTIONS ;  THEIR  CAUSE  AND  EFFECTS; 
TRUTH  OF  HEAVENLY  ORIGIN,  AND  DESTINED  TO  STAND. 

T  HAS  often  been  said,  that  "  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church."  When  some 
young  monks  who  had  been  converted,  were  put 
to  death  in  1523,  in  the  Low  Countries,  Luther 
composed  a  hymn  commemorative  of  these  first 

martyrs  of  the  Reformation,  who  thus  laid  down  their  lives 

for  the  gospel. 


532  EARLY    DAYS    OF    MARTYRDOM. 

It  at  once  became  immensely  popular,  and  was  every 
■where  to  be  heard  in  the  towns  and  villages,  sung  with  the 
deepest  enthusiasm  by  the  people. 

We  give  an  extract  from  it,  as  it  so  well  illustrates  the 
sentiment  above  quoted : 

"  Flung  to  the  heedless  winds, 
Or  on  the  waters  cast, 
Their  ashes  shall  be  watched. 
And  gathered  at  the  last. 
And  from  that  scattered  dust, 
Around  us  and  abroad, 
Shall  spring  a  plenteous  seed, 
Of  witnesses  for  God. 

Jesus  hath  now  received. 

Their  latest  living  breath, 

Y'et  vain  is  Satan's  boast. 

Of  victory  in  their  death. 

Still,  still,  though  dead,  they  speak, 

And  trumpet-tongued,  proclaim. 

To  many  a  wakened  land. 

The  One  availing  name." 

It  indeed  seems  that  the  malicious  designs  of  wicked  men 
were  defeated  by  the  very  ends  which  they  employed  to 
further  them.  Proud  emperors  intent  upon  banishing  even 
the  very  name  of  christian  from  their  reahiis,  devised  every 
possible  method, — used  every  imaginable  threat,  to  smother, 
and  root  out  the  holy  principle  of  godliness  in  the  hearts  of 
their  subjects. 

When  they  saw  the  bold  and  fearless  soldiers  of  Jesus 
Christ  triumphing  over  every  foe,  and  rejoicing,  notwith- 
standing their  menaces,  the  only  alternative  that  was  given 
them  was  recantation  of  a  cruel  death.  Animated  with  the 
glorious  prospect  that  awaited  them  in  the  future, —  cheered 
by  the  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality  beyond  the  grave ;  and 
more  than  all,  influenced  by  a  solemn  sense  of  obligation  to 
Him  who  had  died  for  their  salvation,  they  cheerfully  pre- 
ferred the  latter  to  the  base  denial  involved  in  the  former. 

Others,  beholding  the  fortitude  and  patient  endurance  of 
those  who  suffered,  were  constrained  to  acknowledge  that 
nothing  short  of  a  Divine  power,  could  sustain  the  soul  under 


EARLY    DAYS    OF    MARTYRDOM.  533 

such,  accumulated  weights  of  sorrow  as  some  were  compelled 
to  bear. 

Many  were  thus  led  to  admire  the  principle,  and  from  that 
to  embrace  it,  till  finally  persecution  seemed  destined  to 
increase  the  number  of  the  godly,  instead  of  diminishing 
them. 

So  true  is  it  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  will  stand  firm 
against  the  assaults  of  the  adversary. 

The  emissaries  of  Satan  were  faithful  in  effort  to  retard 
the  progress  of  the  chui'ch,  and  we  who  live  under  the 
peaceful  shadow  of  the  gospel  in  these  days  of  comparative 
illumination,  can  scarcely  form  a  faint  idea  of  the  suffering — 
the  inconceivable  tortures,  which  those  endured  in  the  early 
ages  of  Christianity,  who  had  the  boldness  to  profess  them- 
selves followers  of  the  ascended  Jesus. 

With  our  freedom  of  speech  and  liberty  of  conscience,  we 
can  hardly  appreciate  the  feelings  of  those  who  expected  to  be 
apprehended  for  treason  or  heresy,  if  they  dared  to  signify 
either  by  word  or  deed,  their  preference  for  the  spiritual 
worship  of  the  blessed  Redeemer. 

In  contemplating  the  lives  of  the  martyrs,  we  forbear  to 
dwell  upon  those  who  suffered  in  the  earliest  persecutions, 
on  account  of  the  extreme  cruelty — the  revolting,  inhuman 
treatment  that  every  where  meets  our  gaze.  We  can  scarcely 
deem  it  possible  that  the  most  abandoned  and  wicked  of  men, 
could  have  the  hardihood  to  inffict  such  cruel  wrongs  on  their 
innocent  victims  as  we  find  they  did.  That  any  can  be  so 
dead  to  all  the  feelings  of  humanity  seems  incredible. 

The  first  ten  great  persecutions  under  the  Roman  emperors, 
were  replete  with  scenes  of  cruelty,  that  strike  the  mind  with 
horror.  The  first  was  commenced  in  the  year  67,  in  the  reign 
of  Nero,  emperor  of  Rome.  For  the  space  of  five  years,  he 
reigned  with  tolerable  credit  to  himself,  but  at  the  expiration 
of  that  time  he  gave  way  to  the  greatest  extravagancies  of 
temper,  and  the  most  atrocious  barbarities.  Among  other 
things,  he  took  it  into  his  head  to  order  that  the  city  of  Rome 
should  be  set  on  fire,  wliich  was  accordingly  done  by  his 
officers,  guards  and  servants. 


53-1  EARLY    DAYS    OF    MARTYRDOM. 

While  the  imj)erial  city  was  in  flames,  he  went  up  to  the 
tower  of  Macenas,  played  upon  his  harp,  sung  the  song  of 
the  burning  of  Troy,  and  openly  declared,  "  That  he  wished 
the  ruin  of  all  things  before  his  death." 

The  dreadful  conflagration  continued  nine  days ;  when 
Nero,  finding  that  his  conduct  was  greatly  blamed,  and  severe 
odium  cast  upon  him,  determined  to  lay  the  whole  upon 
the  christians ;  at  once  to  excuse  himself,  and  have  an 
opportunity  to  feast  his  sight  with  new  cruelties. 

This  was  the  occasion  of  the  first  persecution ;  and  the 
barbarities  exercised  upon  the  christians  were  such  as  even 
excited  the  commiseration  of  the  Romans  themselves. 

Domitian,  a  person  of  naturally  cruel  disposition,  succeeded 
Nero,  and  carried  on  the  fearful  work  his  predecessor  had 
commenced.  Thus  for  various  pretended  reasons  ten  difler- 
ent  persecutions  Avere  raised,  conducted  by  men  who  seemed 
to  vie  with  each  other  in  devising  new  methods  of  cruel 
punishment. 

Many  reasons  have  been  assigned  as  the  occasion  of  the 
last,  particularly  the  great  increase  of  the  christians,  whose 
numbers  rendered  them  formidable  ;  and  the  hatred  of  Gale- 
rius,  the  adopted  son  of  Dioclesian,  who  being  stimulated  by 
his  mother,  a  bigoted  pagan,  never  ceased  persuading  the 
emperor  to  enter  upon  the  persecution,  till  he  had  accom- 
plished his  purpose.  The  fatal  day  fixed  upon  to  commence 
this  bloody  work  was  the  23d  of  February,  303,  and  on 
which,  as  the  pagans  boasted,  they  hoped  to  put  a  termination 
to  Christianity.  Alas !  vain  man,  to  think  of  overturning 
the  counsels  of  heaven,  the  decrees  of  the  Almighty. 

They  were  indeed  suffered  to  do  a  dreadful  work.  The 
name  of  christian  was  so  obnoxious  to  them,  that  all  fell  in- 
discriminately sacrifices  to  their  opinions,  without  distinction 
of  age  or  sex.  This  persecution  lasted  ten  years,  during 
which  time  an  almost  incredible  number  suffered  martyrdom. 
We  give  one  instance  only,  that  of  Romanus.  He  was  a  na- 
tive of  Palestine,  deacon  of  the  church  of  Ca^sarea,  at  the  time 
of  the  commencement  of  Dioclesian's  persecution.  Being  at 
Autioch  when  the  imperial  order  arrived  for  sacrificing  to 


EARLY    DAYS    OF    MARTYRDOM.  535 

idols,  he  was  greatly  afflicted  to  see  many  christians,  through 
fear,  submit  to  the  idolatrous  mandate,  and  deny  their  liiith  to 
preserve  their  lives.  Reprehending  some  of  the  recreant 
christians  for  their  conduct,  he  was  informed  against  to  the 
emperor,  and  soon  after  apprehended.  Being  brought  to 
the  tribunal,  he  boldly  confessed  himself  a  christian,  and  said 
he  was  ready  to  suffer  any  thing  which  he  inflicted  upon  him 
on  account  of  his  faith. 

Being  condemned,  he  was  scourged,  his  body  put  to  the 
rack,  going  through  a  series  of  tortures  we  can  not  dwell 
upon.  Thus  cruelly  mangled,  he  turned  to  the  governor, 
and  very  calmly  thanked  him  for  what  he  had  done,  and  for 
having  opened  him  so  many  mouths  to  preach  the  doctrines 
of  Christianity ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  every  wound  is  a  mouth, 
to  sing  the  praises  of  the  Almighty." 

Surely,  nothing  but  the  fanatical  zeal,  the  willful  blindness 
of  men,  could  have  prevented  his  accusers  from  being  im- 
pressed with  the  consciousness  of  the  superiority  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  over  every  thing  else  on  this  occasion. 

The  following  circumstance  is  said  to  have  happened  in 
connection  with  this  scene  of  individual  persecution : 

Romanus  offered  to  stand  to  the  decision  of  a  young  child, 
if  one  would  be  chosen  free  from  malice,  and  with  a  charac- 
ter adorned  with  the  graces  of  virtue  ;  and  to  put  the  truth 
of  the  christian  upon  that  test.  The  proposal  was  accepted, 
and  they  agreed  to  put  the  merits  of  the  cause  upon  that 
issue. 

Accordingly,  a  child  of  about  seven  years  of  age  was 
called  out  of  the  crowd,  and,  on  being  asked  Avhether  he 
thought  it  to  be  true,  that  men  ought  to  worship  but  one 
God,  in  Christ,  or  to  worship  many  gods  ?  he  answered, 
"  that  certainly,  whatsoever  men  affirm  to  be  God,  must  be 
but  One,  and  as  this  one  is  Christ,  He  must  of  necessity  be 
God ;  for  that  there  are  many  gods,"  continued  the  boy,  "  we 
children  can  not  believe."  The  governor,  amazed  at  this, 
was  highly  enraged  with  the  child,  and  calling  him  traitor, 
asked  him  who  taught  him  the  lesson  ?  "  My  mother,"  re- 
plied the  child,  "  early  instructed  me  to  believe  in  Christ." 


536         EAKLY  DAYS  OF  MARTYRDOM. 

This  SO  incensed  the  man,  that  he  ordered  him  to  be  severely 
whipped ;  insomuch  that  the  beholders  could  not  refrain  from 
tears,  the  mother  of  the  child  only  excepted,  wl^o  chid  him 
for  asking  for  a  draught  of  water  to  be  given  to  him,  charging 
him  to  thirst  for  that  cup  which  the  infants  of  Bethlehem 
had  drank  of,  and  bidding  him  remember  Isaac,  who  willingly 
offered  his  neck  for  the  sacrifice  to  his  father's  sword. 

Whilst  the  woman  was    giving  her  son  this  lesson,  the 
merciless  executioner  plucked  the  hair  of  his  head,  his  mother 
at  the  same  time  saying  to  him,  "  Though  you  suffer  here, 
my  child,  you  shall  shortly  be  with  Him  who  shall  adorn  , 
thy  naked  head  with  a  crown  of  eternal  glory." 

Upon  this  the  child  smiled  upon  her  and  his  executioners, 
and  bore  their  stripes  with  heroic  fortitude. 

Soon  after  llomanus  was  ordered  to  be  strangled,  and  the 
child  to  be  beheaded,  which  sentence  was  executed  on  the 
17  th  of  November,  303. 

How  strikingly  does  this  illustrate  the  power  of  God's 
grace,  which  not  only  supports  the  strong  man,  but  makes  a 
timid  child  a  conqueror,  and  enables  a  loving  mother  freely 
to  resign  the  child  of  her  love  to  suffering  and  death  for  the 
honor  of  God. 

Patriotic  zeal  and  love  of  country,  prompted  mothers  in 
the  days  of  chivalry,  to  urge  their  sons  to  the  field  of  battle, 
for  the  sake  of  fame  and  popular  applause  ;  but  where,  in  all 
the  pages  of  history,  do  we  find  any  thing  so  sublime  as 
this ; — any  thing  that  bears  any  comparison  to  the  deeds  of 
those  men  and  women  who  not  only  gave  up  their  own 
bodies  to  torture,  but  freely  sacrificed  those  friends  and  those 
interests  dearer  than  life,  for  the  cause  of  truth  and  right  ? 

Dioclesian's  persecution  was  followed  by  that  under  Julian 
the  Apostate,  the  Goths,  Vandals,  &c. 

Then  came  that  of  the  Waldenses  in  France,  by  Pope 
Innocent  the  Eighth,  in  1488.  He  drove  them  from  their 
quiet  valley,  and  compelled  them  to  take  refuge  in  the  dens 
and  caves  of  the  mountains,  at  the  same  time  confiscating 
their  property,  and  desolating  their  houses  and  lands.  The 
persecution  was  finally  stopped  in  the  following  manner  : 


EARLY     DAYS     OF     MARTYRDOM.  537 

The  pope,  by  being  often  near  tbem  at  bis  seat  at  Avignon, 
heard  occasionally  many*  things  concerning  their  differing 
from  the  church  of  Rome.  The  intelligence  greatly  exas- 
perated him,  and  he  determined  to  have  them  persecuted  on 
account  of  their  religious  tenets.  Proceeding  to  some  ex- 
tremities, under  the  sanction  of  his  ecclesiastical  authority, 
without  consulting  the  king  of  France,  the  latter  became 
alarmed,  and  sent  his  master  of  requests  and  his  confessor  to 
examine  into  the  affair.  On  their  return,  they  reported  that 
the  Waldenses  were  not  such  dangerous  or  bad  people  as  had 
been  represented  ;  that  they  lived  Avith  perfect  honesty,  were 
friendly  to  all,  hurt  none,  kept  the  Lord's  day  sacred,  feared 
God,  honored  the  king,  and  wished  well  to  the  state.  "  Then," 
said  the  king,  "  they  are  much  better  christians  than  myself 
or  my  Catholic  subjects,  and  therefore  they  shall  not  be  per- 
secuted." The  king  was  as  good  as  his  word,  and  accordingly 
sent  orders  that  they  should  remain  undisturbed. 

The  Albigenses,  peoj^le  of  the  reformed  religion,  inhabiting 
the  country  of  Albi,  were  soon  after  condemned  on  the  score 
of  tlieir  religion,  by  order  of  Pope  Alexander  the  Third. 

Notwithstanding  this,  they  increased  so  rapidly,  that  many 
cities  were  inhabited  by  persons  only  of  their  persuasion,  and 
several  eminent  noblemen  embraced  their  doctrines. 

The  pope,  at  length,  pretended  that  he  wished  to  di'aw 
them  to  the  Romish  faith  by  sound  argument  and  clear 
reasoning,  and  for  this  end  ordered  a  general  disputation,  in 
which,  -however,  the  popish  doctors  were  entirely  overcome 
by  the  arguments  of  Arnold,  a  reformed  clergyman,  whose 
reasons  were  so  strong,  that  they  were  compelled  to  confess 
their  force. 

This  so  excited  the  pope,  that  he  resolved  upon  persecu- 
tion ;  and  in  order  to  raise  forces  to  act  coercively  against  the 
Albigenses,  he  sent  persons  throughout  all  Europe,  and 
promised  paradise  to  all  that  would  come  to  his  aid  in  the 
Holy  War,  as  he  termed  it,  and  bear  arms  for  the  space  of 
forty  days. 

Great  numbers  resorted  to  him,  ignorantly  hoping  to  obtain 
the    prize    which    mortal    man    could   never   give.       They 


538  EAELY     DAYS     OF    MARTYRDOM. 

commenced  their  work,  and  oh,  infatuated  mortals  !  to  think 
of  gaining  heaven  by  such  cruel  deeds. 

In  the  year  1620,  the  persecution  against  this  people  was 
very  great.  At  a  town  called  Tell,  while  the  minister  was 
preaching  to  a  congregation  of  the  reformed,  the  papists  at- 
tacked and  murdered  many  of  the  people.  A  lady  of  con- 
siderable eminence,  being  exhorted  to  change  her  religion,  if 
not  for  her  own  sake,  at  least  for  the  sake  of  the  infant  she 
held  in  her  arms,  with  an  undaunted  courage  she  said,  "  I 
did  not  quit  Italy,  my  native  country,  nor  forsake  the  estate 
I  had  there,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  to  renounce  Him 
here.  "With  respect  to  my  infant,  why  should  I  not  deliver 
him  up  to  death,  since  God  delivered  up  His  son  to  die  for 
us  ?"  As  soon  as  she  had  done  speaking,  they  took  the 
child  from  her,  gave  it  to  a  popish  nurse  to  bring  up,  and 
put  her  to  death. 

This  is  only  one  instance  of  their  numberless  deeds  of 
barbarity. 

Our  feelings  incline  us  to  turn  from  these  sickening  pictures 
altogether,  but  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  consider  them  to 
some  extent,  that  we  may  the  better  appreciate  the  peculiar 
privileges  heaven  confers  upon  us  at  the  present  day  ;  as 
well  as  to  become  convinced  of  the  singular  efficacy  of  the 
gospel,  which  was  never  more  apparent  than  in  those  times 
of  persecution  which  "  tried  men's  souls,"  but  eventually 
obtained  for  Christianity  a  most  signal  triumph. 

After  the  Albigensian  persecution,  came  the  Inquisition 
with  its  train  of  new  and  untold  horrors ;  but  on  this  we 
forbear  comment,  as  well  as  upon  the  cries  which  went  up 
from  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  at  a  later  date  from  Scot- 
land, Ireland,  Germany,  all  of  which  entered  the  ears  of  the 
God  of  heaven,  who  will  finally  dispense  judgment  to  all. 

God  had  a  purpose  to  accomplish  in  suffering  His  people 
to  be  thus  tried,  and  it  is  not  ours  to  question  the  wisdom  of 
His  plans.  It  certainly  demonstrated  to  the  world  the  all- 
sufficiency  of  His  gospel  in  every  human  emergency.  It 
showed  the  immutability  of  His  purpose  respecting  His 
church   and  His    religion.     Human    ingenuity    ingeniously 


EARLY     DAYS     OP     MARTYRDOM.  539 

sought  its  extermination,  but  the  combined  skill  and  energy 
of  a  vast  multitude  could  not  disturb  its  foundations.  It  was 
built  on  the  "  Rock  of  Ages,"  and  earth  itself  arrayed  against 
it,  would  have  been  as  nothing. 

A  great  company,  indeed,  went  from  the  church  militant 
to  the  courts  of  heaven,  "through  much  tribulation,"  but 
they  left  behind  them  a  glorious  testimony  for  Christ,  which 
spoke  eloquently  for  the  cause. 

It  exhibited  in  striking  contrast,  the  great  difference  be- 
tween the  pure,  peaceable  religion  of  Christ,  with  its  meek, 
forgiving  spirit,  and  the  selfish,  cruel,  mad  theories,  which 
man  devised,  and  dignified  with  their  own  peculiar  tefiets, 
discovering  their  fallacy  in  the  very  absurdity  of  their 
formation. 

From  these  days  of  darkness  and  persecution,  there  come 
bright  and  cheering  rays  of  consolation  to  the  troubled  spirit. 
They  proclaim  with  unerring  certainty  that  "  the  counsels 
of  God  shall  stand,"  and  that  the  ark  of  God  shall  ride  se- 
curely over  all  the  threatening  waves  of  time,  and  finally 
reach  the  peaceful  harbor  where  storms  shall  never  beat 
against  it  more. 

All  the  efforts  of  men  to  retard  and  obscure  truth  will 
prove  unavailing.  It  is  true  that  for  a  time  clouds  and  dark- 
ness may  intercept  its  light,  but  it  will  beam  forth  with  re- 
newed brightness  at  the  last.  Truth  is  of  heaven,  and  the 
same  is  pledged  for  its  security. 

While  perusing  these  accounts  of  good  men  who  suffered 
in  defense  of  the  truth,  we  may  well  ask  ourselves,  if  we 
have  kindred  faith,  for  the  same  principle  which  animated 
them,  must  also  be  ours,  would  we  be  good  soldiers  under 
the  banner  of  the  cross,  and  continue  in  faithful  allegiance  to 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation,  through  all  the  trials,  which 
await  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  every  subject  of  the 
heavenly  Monarch,  in  this  vale  of  tears. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

SENTENCE  OF  DEATH  PASSED  AGAINST  HDI ;  CONDrCT  BEFORE  THE  PEO- 
CONSUL  AND  IN  THE  HOUR  OF  DEATH. 

I  HE  aged  and  venerable  Poly  carp,  a  disciple  of  the 
Apostle  John,  gave  up  his  life  in  defense  of  the 
truth,  in  the  year  167,  having  passed  through  the 
varied  scenes  of  this  mortal  life  for  the  space  of 
ninety  years. 

When  he  heard  the  shouts  of  the  people  demanding  his 
death,  it  was  his  intention,  at  first,  to  remain  quietly  in  the 
city,  and  await  the  issue  which  God  might  ordain  for  him. 
But,  by  the  entreaties  of  the  church,  he  suffered  himself  to  be 
persuaded  to  take  refuge  in  a  neighboring  villa.  Here  he 
spent  the  time,  with  a  few  friends,  occupied,  day  and  night, 
in  praying  for  all  the  churches  throughout  the  world.  When 
search  was  made  for  him,  he  retreated  to  another  villa ;  and 
directly  after  appeared  the  servants  of  the  police,  to  whom  his 
place  of  refuge  had  been  betrayed  by  unworthy  men,  who 
enjoyed  his  confidence.  The  bishop  himself,  indeed,  was 
gone :  but  they  found  two  slaves,  one  of  whom  was  put  to 
the  torture,  and  betrayed  the  place  whither  Polycarp  had 
fled  for  refuge.  As  they  were  approaching,  he  was  in  the 
highest  story  of  the  dwelling,  and  might  have  escaped  to 
another  house,  by  the  flat  roof  peculiar  to  the  Oriental  style 
of  building;  but  he  said,  "The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done." 
Descending  to  the  officers  of  justice,  he  ordered  whatever 
they  chose  to  eat  and  drink  to  be  placed  before  them,  request- 
ing them  to  indulge  him  with  one  hour  for  quiet  prayer. 
But  the  fullness  of  his  heart  hurried  him  through  two  hours, 
so  that  the  pagans  themselves  were  touched  by  his  devotion. 
The  time  having  come,  they  conveyed  him  to  the  city  on  an 
ass,  where  they  were  met  by  the  chief  officer  of  the  police, 

(540) 


POLYCARP.  541 

coming,  with  his  father,  from  the  town.  He  took  \ip  Polycarp 
into  his  chariot,  and  addressing  him  kindly,  asked,  '^what 
harm  there  coukl  be  in  saying  '  the  emperor,  our  Lord,'  and 
in  sacrificing."  At  first,  Polycarp  was  silent ;  but  as  they 
went  on  to  urge  him,  he  said  mildly,  "  I  shall  not  do  as  you 
advise  me."  When  they  perceived  they  could  not  persuade 
him,  they  grew  angry.  With  opprobrious  language,  they 
thrust  him  from  the  carriage,  in  such  a  violent  manner  as  se- 
riously to  injure  him.  Without  looking  round  he  proceeded 
on  his  way,  cheerful  and  composed  as  if  nothing  had 
happened. 

Having  arrived  before  the  pro-consul,  he  was  urged  by  the 
latter  to  have  respect  at  least  to  his  own  old  age,  to  swear  by 
the  genius  of  the  emperor,  and  give  proof  of  his  penitence, 
by  joining  in  the  shout  of  the  people,  "Away  with  the  god- 
less." Polycarp  looked  with  a  firm  eye  at  the  assembled 
crowd,  pointing  to  them,  with  his  finger ;  then  with  a  sigh, 
and  his  eyes  uplifted  to  heaven,  he  said,  "Away  with  the 
godless !"  But  when  the  pro-consul  urged  him  further, 
"Swear,  curse  Christ,  and  I  release  thee." 

"  Six  and  eighty  years,"  the  old  man  replied,  "  have  I 
served  him,  and  he  has  done  me  nothing  but  good  ;  and  how 
could  I  curse  him,  my  Lord  and  Saviour  ?"  The  pro-consul 
still  persisted  to  urge  him.  "  Well,"  said  Polycarp,  "  if  you 
would  know  what  I  am,  I  tell  you  frankly,  I  am  a  christian. 
Would  you  know  what  the  doctrine  of  Christianity  is,  appoint 
an  hour  and  hear  me."  The  pro-consul,  who  showed  here 
how  far  he  was  from  sharing  in  the  fanatic  spirit  of  the  peo- 
ple, how  gladly  he  Avould  have  saved  the  old  man,  if  he  could 
have  appeased  the  multitude,  said,  "  Do  but  persuade  the  peo- 
ple." Polycarp  replied,  "  To  you  I  was  bound  to  give  ac- 
count of  myself,  for  our  own  religion  teaches  us  to  pay  due 
honor  to  the  powers  ordained  of  God,  so  fixr  as  it*can  be  done 
without  prejudice  to  our  salvation.  But  those  I  regard  as  not 
worthy  of  hearing  me  defend  myself  before  them."  The 
governor  having  once  more  threatened  him  in  vain  with  the 
wild  beasts  and  the  stake,  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed  by  the 
herald,  in  the  circus,  "Polycarp  has  declared  himself  to  be  a 


542  POLYCARP. 

christian !"  With  these  words  was  pronounced  the  sentence 
of  death.  The  heathen  populace,  with  an  infuriate  shout,  re- 
plied, "  This  is  the  teacher  of  atheism,  the  father  of  the  chris- 
tians, the  enemy  of  our  gods,  by  whom  so  many  have  been 
turned  from- the  worship  of  the  gods  and  from  sacrifice." 

The  pro-consul,  having  yielded  to  the  demands  of  the 
pieople,  that  Polycarp  sh6uld  die  at  the  stake,  Jews  and 
pagans  hastened  together,  to  bring  wood  from  the  shops  and 
the  baths.  As  they  were  about  to  fasten  him  with  nails  to 
the  stake  of  the  pile,  he  said,  "  Leave  me  thus  ;  He  who  has 
strengthened  me  to  encounter  the  flames,  will  also  enable  me 
to  stand  firm  at  the  stake."  Before  the  fire  was  lighted,  he 
prayed :  "  Lord,  Almighty  God,  Father  of  thy  beloved  Son, 
Jesus  Christ,  through  whom,  we  have  received  from  thee  the 
knowledge  of  thyself;  God  of  angels,  and  of  the  whole  crea- 
tion ;  of  the  human  race,  and  of  the  just  that  live  in  thy 
presence;  I  praise  thee  that  thou  hast  judged  me  worthy  of 
this  day  and  hour,  to  take  part  in  the  number  of  thy 
witnesses,  in  the  cup  of  thy  Christ." 

What  appeared  the  greatest  thing  to  the  church  at  this 
time,  was  not  the  martyr's  death  of  Polycarp  in  itself,  but 
the  christian  manner  in  which  it  Avas  suffered.  They  ex- 
pi'cssed  it  as  their  conviction,  that  all  had  been  so  ordered, 
that  he  might  exhibit  what  was  the  essential  character  of 
evangelical  martyrdom  ;  *'  for,"  so  they  write,  "  he  waited  to 
be  delivered  up,  not  pressing  forward  uncalled  ;  imitating, 
in  this  respect,  our  Lord,  and  leaving  an  example  for  us  to 
follow ;  so  that  we  should  not  look  to  that  alone  which  may 
conduce  to  our  own  salvation,  but  also  to  that  which  may  be 
serviceable  to  others. 

"  For  this  is  the  nature  of  true  and  genuine  charity,  to  seek 
by  all  possible  means  the  salvation  of  souls." 

The  death  of  this  pious  shepherd  contributed  also  to  the 
temporal  advantage  of  his  flock.  The  rage  of  fanaticism, 
after  having  obtained  this  victim,  became  somewhat  cooled ; 
and  the  pro-consul,  who  was  no  personal  enemy  of  the 
christians,  suspended  all  further  search,  and  refused  to  know 
that  another  christian  existed. 


WILLIAM    LITHGOW.  543 

Polycarp  was  vl  faithful  witness  for  Christ,  and  accomplished 
much,  both  in  his  life  and  in  his  death,  for  the  furtherance 
of  the  holy  cause. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MilUam  fitljgofo. 

ACCOOT  OF  HIS  TRAVELS ;  TERRIBLE  PERSECUTION  IN  SPAIN ;  EXTREIIE 
SUEFERING  AND  MANNER  OF  PECULIAR  DELIVERANCE. 

MONG  those  who  suffered  during  the  fearful 
progress  of  the  Inquisition  was  one  William 
Lithgow,  a  native  of  Scotland. 

He  was  descended  from  a  good  family,  and, 
having  a  natural  propensity  to  traveling,  he 
rambled,  when  very  young,  over  the  northern  and  western 
islands  ;  after  which,  he  visited  Trance,  Germany,  Switzer- 
land and  Spain. 

He  set  out  on  his  travels  in  the  month  of  March,  1609,  first 
stopping  at  Paris,  where  he  stayed  some  time,  then,  going 
through  Germany  and  other  parts,  he  arrived  at  Malaga,  in 
Spain,  the  seat  of  all  his  misfortunes. 

During  his  residence  here,  he  contracted  with  the  master 
of  a  French  ship  for  his  passage  to  Alexandria,  but  was  pre- 
vented from  going  by  the  following  circumstances. 

At  evening,  on  the  17th  of  October,  1620,  the  English 
fleet,  at  that  time  on  a  cruise  against  the  Algerine  rovers, 
came  to  anchor  before  ]\Ialaga,  which  throAV  the  people  of  the 
town  into  the  greatest  consternation,  as  they  imagined  them 
to  be  Turks.  The  morning,  however,  discovered  the  mistake, 
and  the  governor,  perceiving  the  cross  of  England  in  their 
colors,  went  on  board  Sir  Robert  Mansell's  ship,  who  com- 
manded on  that  expedition,  and,  after  staying  some  time,  re- 
turned to  silence  the  fears  of  the  people. 

The  next  day  several  persons  from  on  board  the  fleet  came 


544  WILLIAM    LITHGOW. 

ashore.  Among  these  were  a  number  well  known  by  Lith- 
gow,  who,  after  reciprocal  compliments,  spent  some  clays 
together  in  festivity  and  amusements  of  the  town.  They  then 
invited  him  to  go  on  board,  and  pay  his  respects  to  the  admiral. 
He  accordingly  accepted  the  invitation,  was  kindly  received  by 
him,  and  detained  till  the  next  day,  when  the  fleet  sailed. 

As  soon  as  he  got  on  shore,  he  proceeded  toward  his  lodg- 
ings by  a  private  way,  when,  in  passing  through  a  narrow, 
uninhabited  street,  he  found  himself  suddenly  surrounded  by 
several  officers,  who  threw  a  black  cloak  over  him,  and  forci- 
bly conducted  him  to  the  house  of  the  governor.  After  some 
little  time,  the  governor  appeared,  when  Lithgow  earnestly 
■  begged  he  •  might  be  informed  of  the  cause  of  such  violent 
treatment,  but  his  only  answer  was  a  shake  of  the  head,  fol- 
lowed by  strict  orders  that  the  prisoner  should  be  closely 
watched  till  he  returned  from  his  devotions ;  directing,  at  the 
same  time,  that  the  principal  officers  in  town  should  be  sum- 
moned to  ajjpear  at  his  examination,  and  all  with  the  greatest 
secrecy,  to  prevent  the  knowledge  of  it  reaching  the  ears  of 
the  English  merchants  then  residing  in  town. 

These  orders  were  strictly  discharged,  and,  on  the  govern- 
or's return,  he  and  the  officers  having  seated  themselves, 
Lithgow  was  brought  before  them,  and  asked  several  ques- 
tions, as, — of  what  country  he  was,  whither  bound,  and  how 
long  he  had  been  in  Spain.  The  prisoner,  after  answering 
these  and  other  questions,  was  conducted  to  a  closet,  where, 
in  a  short  space  of  time,  he  was  visited  by  a  town-captain, 
who  inquired  whether  he  had  ever  been  at  Seville,  or  was 
lately  come  from  thence  ;  and,  patting  his  cheeks  with  an  air 
of  friendship,  conjured  him  to  tell  the  truth  :  ''  For,"  said  he, 
"  your  very  countenance  shows  there  is  some  hidden  matter 
in  your  mind,  which  prudence  should  direct  you  to  disclose." 
Finding  himself,  however,  unable  to  extort  any  thing  from 
the  prisoner,  he  left  him,  and  reported  his  success  to  the 
governor,  upon  which  he  was  again  brought  before  them,  a 
general  accusation  laid  against  him,  and  made  to  swear  that 
he  would  give  true  answers  to  such  questions  as  might  be 
asked  him. 


WILLIAM    LITHGOW.  545 

The  governor  then  proceeded  to  inquire  the  quality  of  the 
Enghsh  commander,  and  the  prisoner's  opinion  what  were 
the  motives  that  prevented  his  accepting  an  invitation  from 
him  to  come  on  shore.  He  demanded,  likewise,  the  names 
of  the  English  captains  in  the  squadron,  and  what  knowledge 
he  had  of  the  embarkation,  or  preparation  for  it  before  its 
departure  for  England.  Upon  his  denying  any  knowledge 
of  the  matter,  he  was  accused  of  being  a  traitor  and  spy, 
who  came  directly  to  favor  and  assist  in  the  designs  that 
were  projected  against  Spain  ;  and,  that  he  had  been,  for  that 
purpose,  nine  months  in  Seville,  in  order  to  procure  intelli- 
gence of  the  time  the  Spanish  navy  was  expected  from  the 
Indies.  Tliey  exclaimed  against  his  familiarity  with  the 
officers  of  the  fleet  and  many  other  English  gentlemen,  be- 
tween whom,  they  said,  unusual  civilities  had  passed,  but 
they  had  all  been  carefully  noticed. 

Besides,  to  sum  up  the  whole,  and  put  the  truth  past  all 
doubt,  they  said  he  came  from  a  council  of  war,  held  that 
morning  on  board  the  admiral's  ship,  in  order  to  put  in  ex- 
ecution the  orders  assigned  him. 

They  upbraided  him  with  being  accessory  to  the  burning 
of  the  island  of  St.  Thomas,  in  the  "West  Indies.  "  Where- 
fore," said  they,  "  these  Lutherans,  ought  to  have  no  credit 
given  to  what  they  say  or  swear." 

In  vain  did  Lithgow  endeavor  to  obviate  every  accusation 
laid  against  him,  and  to  obtain  belief  from  his  prejudiced 
judges.  He  begged  permission  to  send  for  his  papers,  which 
might  serve  to  show  his  innocence.  They  complied  with  his 
request,  thinking  it  would  discover  some  things  of  which 
they  were  ignorant.  They  were  accordingly  brought,  and 
on  being  opened,  among  other  things,  was  found  a  license 
from  king  James  the  First,  under  the  sign  manual,  setting 
forth  the  bearer's  intention  to  travel  into  Egypt,  which  was 
treated  b'y  the  haughty  Spaniards  with  great  contempt. 

The  other  papers  consisted  of  passports,  testimonials,  &c., 
of  persons  of  quality.  All  these  credentials,  however,  seemed 
rather  to  confirm  than  abate  the  suspicions  of  the  judges,  who 
after  seizing  all  the  prisoner's  papers,  ordered  him  to  Avith- 


546  WILLIAM    LITHGOW. 

draw.  In  the  mean  time  a  consultation  was  held,  to  fix  the 
place  where  the  prisoner  should  be  confined. 

The  chief  judge  was  for  putting  him  in  the  town  prison  ; 
but  this  was  objected  to  by  another,  who  said,  "  In  order  to 
prevent  the  knowledge  of  his  confinement  from  reaching  his 
countrymen,  I  will  take  the  matter  on  myself,  and  be  an- 
swerable for  the  consequences  ;"  upon  Avhich  it  was  agreed, 
that  he  should  be  confined  in  the  governor's  house,  with  the 
greatest  secrecy.  Every  thing  was  taken  from  him,  and  he 
was  conveyed  to  a  retired  room,  and  left  to  his  own  private 
contemplation. 

The  next  day  he  received  a  visit  from  the  governor,  who 
promised  him  his  hberty,  with  many  other  advantages,  if  he 
would  confess  being  a  spy  ;  but  on  his  protesting  that  he  was 
entirely  innocent,  the  governor  left  him  in  a  rage,  saying,  he 
should  see  him  no  more  till  torments  constrained  him  to  con- 
fess ;  commanding  the  keeper,  to  whose  care  he  was  commit- 
ted, that  he  should  permit  no  person  whatever,  to  have  access 
to,  or  commune  with  him  ;  that  his  sustenance  should  not 
exceed  three  ounces  of  musty  bread,  and  a  pint  of  water 
every  second  day ;  that  he  should  be  allowed  neither  bed, 
pillow,  or  covering.  "  Close  up/'  said  he,  "  this  windoAV  in 
his  room  with  lime  and  stone  ;  stop  up  the  holes  of  the  door 
with  double  mats  ;  let  him  have  nothing  that  bears  any  re- 
lation to  comfort."  These,  and  several  other  orders  of  the 
like  severity,  were  given  to  render  it  impossible  for  his  con- 
dition to  be  known  to  those  of  the  English  nation. 

In  this  wretched  and  melancholy  condition,  jjoor  Lithgow 
continued  for  several  days,  in  which  time  the  governor  re- 
ceived an  answer  to  a  letter  he  had  written,  relative  to  the 
prisoner  from  Madrid ;  and,  pursuant  to  the  instructions 
given  him  began  to  put  in  practice  dreadful  cruelties. 

On  the  forty-seventh  day  of  his  imprisonment,  about  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  heard  a  noise  of  a  coach  in  the 
street,  and  sometime  afterward  heard  the  opening  of  the 
prison-doors,  for  he  had  no  sleep  for  two  nights,  on  account 
of  his  hunger,  pain,  and  melancholy  reflections. 

Soon  after,  he  was  seized,  placed  in  the  coach,  and  carried 


WILLIAM    LITHGOW.  547 

to  a  place  without  the  town,  where  tortures  awaited  him. 
At  day-break  the  next  morning,  arrived  the  governor  and 
his  officers,  into  whose  presence  Lithgow  was  brought  to 
undergo  another  examination. 

He  desired  he  might  have  an  interpreter,  which  was  al- 
lowed to  strangers  by  the  laws  of  that  country,  but  this  was 
refused,  nor  would  they  permit  him  to  appeal  to  Madrid,  the 
superior  court  of  judicature.  After  a  long  examination, 
which  lasted  from  morning  till  night,  there  appeared  in  all 
his  answers,  so  exact  a  conformity  with  what  he  had  before 
said,  that  they  declared  he  had  learned  them  by  heart,  there 
being  not  the  least  prevarication.  They,  however,  pressed 
him  again  to  make  a  full  discovery ;  that  is,  to  accuse  him- 
self of  crimes  never  committed,  the  governor  adding,  "  You 
are  still  in  my  powder ;  I  can  set  you  free  if  you  comply ;  if 
not  I  must  deliver  you  to  the  alcaid."  As  he  still  persisted 
in  his  innocence,  the  notary  was  ordered  to  draw  up  a  war- 
rant for  delivering  him  up  to  be  tortured. 

In  consequence  of  this,  he  was  conducted  to  a  stone  gal- 
lery to  be  placed  upon  the  rack,  and  his  irons  being  taken 
off,  he  fell  upon  his  knees,  uttering  a  short  prayer,,  that  God 
would  enable  him  to  be  steadfast,  and  courageously  endure 
the  trials  before  him. 

It  were  impossible  to  conceive  the  extremity  of  suffering 
he  endured  for  many  hours.  A  little  cordial  was  at  last 
given  him,  more  for  the  purpose  of  reserving  him  for  future 
punishment,  rather  than  from  a  pnnciple  of  charity  or  com- 
passion. 

As  a  confirmation  of  this,  orders  were  given  for  a  coach  to 
pass  every  morning  before  day,  by  the  prison,  that  the  noise 
made  by  it,  might  give  fresh  terror  and  alarm  to  the  unhappy 
prisoner,  and  deprive  him  of  all  possibility  of  obtaining  the 
least  repose. 

He  continued  in  this  dreadful  situation,  almost  starved  for 
want  of  the  common  necessaries  to  preserve  his  wretched  ex- 
istence, with  little  hope  of  ever  being  released  from  the 
power  of  the  cruel  Spaniards.  Till  this  time,  they  had  pun- 
ished him  for  treason,  but  now  they  began  upon  his  religion,. 


548  WILLIAM    LITHGOW. 

and  finally  gave  him  eight  days  to  consider  and  resolve 
whether  he  would  heconie  a  convert  to  their  faith. 

The  inquisitor  told  him  he,  with  other  religious  orders, 
would  attend  him  for  the  purpose  of  rendering  assistance 
thereto,  and  during  one  of  their  first  interviews,  he  was 
asked,  what  he  had  on  his  conscience  that  prevented  his  con- 
version, to  which  he  answered,  "  he  had  not  any  doubts  in 
his  mind,  being  confident  in  the  promises  of  Christ,  and  as- 
suredly believing  His  revealed  Avill  signified  in  the  gospels, 
as  professed  in  the  reformed  Catholic  church,  being  confirmed 
by  grace,  and  having  infallible  assurance  thereby  of  the  true 
christian  faith."  This  obtained  for  him  the  apiDcUation  of 
"  absurd  heretic,"  and  the  like,  upon  which  he  told  them,  "  it 
was  not  consistent  with  the  nature  and  essence  of  religion 
and  charity,  to  convince  by  opprobrious  speeches,  racks,  and 
torments,  but  by  arguments  deduced  from  Scripture  ;  and 
that  all  other  methods  would  with  him  prove,  ineffectual." 

The  priests  seeing  that  even  the  fear  of  the  cruel  sentence 
he  had  reason  to  expect  would  be  pronounced  against  him, 
did  not  shake  his  constancy,  left  him  to  prepare  for  new 
scenes  of  cruelty.  Oh,  the  wickedness  of  the  human  heart, 
when  under  the  dominion  of  Satan ! 

So  terrible  had  his  situation  become,  that  Lithgow  longed 
for  the  day  that  should  put  a  period  to  his  sufferings  ;  but 
his  expectations  were,  by  the  interposition  of  Providence, 
happily  rendered  abortive,  and  his  deliverance  obtained 
through  the  interference  of  a  Flemish  youth,  in  the  gover- 
nor's house,  who  hazarded  his  life,  by  telling  the  tragical 
story  of  the  prisoner's  confinement  and  sufferings  to  an  Eng- 
lishman. By  this  means  it  reached  the  ears  of  the  English 
ambassador,  who  presented  a  memorial  to  the  king  and 
council  of  Spain,  and  obtained  an  order  for  the  sufferer's 
release.  By  these  means,  under  God,  Lithgow  was  restored 
from  the  most  wretched  spectacle,  to  a  tolerable  share  of 
health  and  strength  ;  but  he  lost  the  use  of  his  left  arm, 
and  several  of  the  smaller  bones  were  so  crushed  and  bro- 
ken as  to  be  ever  after  rendered  useless. 

We  can  not  help  indulging  the  reflection  at.  the  close,  how 


/JEORGE    WIS  HART. 


649 


manifestly  Providence  interfered  in  behalf  of  this  poor  man, 
when  he  was  on  the  brink  of  destruction ;  for  by  his  sentence, 
fi-om  which  there  was  no  appeal,  he  would  haye  been  taken, 
in  a  few  days,  to  Granada,  and  burnt  to  ashes.  By  such 
secondary  means  does  Providence  frequently  interfere  in 
behalf  of  the  virtuous  and  oppressed,  of  which  this  is  a  most 
distinguished  example. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 


EFFORTS  TO  SPREAD  TEE  GOSPEL ;  DECEPTION  OF  THE  CARDINAL  TO  PUT 
AN  END  TO  HIS  LIFE ;  TRirilPHANT  FAITH  AT  THE  LAST. 

^HIS  man  was  born  in  Scotland,  and  was  one  of 
those  noble  spirits  that  Cambridge  trained  for  use- 
fulness, not  only  in  literature,  but  also  in  religion. 
After  leaving  that  institution,  he  traveled  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  where  he  distin- 
guished himself  for  his  great  learning  and  abilities,  both  in 
philosophy  and  divinity. 

After  being  some  time  abroad,  he  returned  to  England,  and 
took  up  his  residence  at  Cambridge,  where  he  was  admitted  a 
member  of  Bennet  College. 

Having  taken  his  degrees,  he  entered  into  holy  orders,  and 
expounded  the  gospel  in  so  clear  and  intelligible  a  mariner, 
as  highly  to  please  his  numerous  auditors. 

Being  desirous  of  propagating  the  true  gospel  in  his  own 
country,  he  left  Cambridge  in  1554,  and  on  his  arrival  in 
Scotland  preached  at  Montrose,  and  afterward  at  Dundee. 
At  the  latter  place  he  made  a  public  exposition  of  the  epistle 
to  the  Romans,  which  he  went  through  with  such  grace  and 
freedom,  as  greatly  alarmed  the  papists. 

In  consequence  of  this,  at  the  instigation  of  the  archbishop, 
one  of  the  principal  men  of  Dundee  went  to  the  church 
where  he  was  preaching,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  discourse  told 


550  GEORGE    WISHART, 

him  not  to  trouble  the  town  any  more,  for  he  was  determined 
not  to  suffer  it. 

This  sudden  rebuff  greatly  surprised  Wishart,  who,  after  a 
short  pause,  looking  sorrowfully  on  the  speaker  and  the  au- 
dience, said,  "  God  is  my  witness,  that  I  never  minded  your 
trouble,  but  your  comfort ;  yea,  your  trouble  is  more  grievous 
to  me,  than  it  is  to  yourselves ;  but  I  am  assured,  to  refuse 
God's  word,  and  to  chase  from  you  his  messenger,  shall  not 
preserve  you  from  trouble,  but  rather  bring  you  into  it ;  for 
God  shall  send  you  ministers  that  shall  neither  fear  burning 
nor  banishment.  I  have  offered  you  the  word  of  salvation. 
With  the  hazard  of  my  life  I  have  remained  among  you ; 
now  you,  yourselves,  refuse  me ;  and  I  must  leave  my  inno- 
cence to  be  declared  by  my  God.  If  it  be  long  prosj^erous 
■with  you,  I  am  not  led  by  the  spirit  of  truth ;  but  if  unlooked 
for  trouble  come  upon  you,  acknowledge  the  cause,  and  turn 
to  God,  who  is  gracious  and  merciful."  At  the  close  of  this 
speech,  he  left  the  pulpit,  and  retired. 

After  this  he  went  into  the  west  of  Scotland,  where  he 
preached  God's  word,  which  was  gladly  received  by  many. 
Here  he  received  intelligence  that  the  plague  was  broke  out 
in  Dundee.  It  began  four  days  after  he  was  prohibited  from 
preaching  there,  and  raged  with  such  power  that  the  number 
which  died  in  the  space  of  twenty-four  houi's,  was  almost 
beyond  credit. 

Notwithstanding  the  importunity  of  his  friends,  he  deter- 
mined to  go  there,  saying,  "  They  now  need  comfort.  Per- 
haps this  hand  of  God  will  make  them  noAv  to  magnify  and 
reverence  the  word  of  God,  w^hich  before  they  lightly 
esteemed." 

He  went,  and  met  -with  a  cordial  reception  from  the  godly, 
lie  chose  the  east  gate  for  the  place  of  his  preaching ;  so 
that  the  healthy  were  within,  and  the  sick  without  the  gate. 
He  took  his  first  text  from  the  words,  "  He  sent  his  word  and 
healed  them." 

In  his  sermon  he  chiefly  dAvelt  upon  the  advantages  and 
comfort  of  God's  word,  that  judgments  that  follow  the  con- 
tempt or  rejection  of  it,  the  freedom  of  God's  grace  to  all  his 


GEORGE     WISHART.  551 

people,  and  the  happiness  of  his  chosen,  whom  he  takes  to 
himself  from  out  the  miserable  world. 

The  hearts  of  his  hearers  were  so  raised  by  the  Divine  force 
of  his  discourse,  as  not  to  regard  death,  but  to  count  them 
the  more  happy  who  should  then  be  called,  not  knowing 
whether  they  might  have  such  a  comforter  again  with  them. 

After  this,  the  plague  abated,  though  in  the  midst  of  it, 
Wishart  constantly  visited  those  that  lay  in  the  greatest  ex- 
tremity, and  comforted  them  by  his  counsel.  When  he  took 
his  leave  of  the  people  of  Dundee,  he  said,  "  That  God  had 
almost  put  an  end  to  that  plague,  and  that  he  was  called  to 
another  place." 

He  went  from  thence  to  Montrose,  where  he  sometimes 
preached,  but  spent  most  of  his  time  in  heavenly  contempla- 
tion and  prayer. 

It  is  said  that  before  he  left  the  former  place,  while  he  was 
engaged  in  labors  of  love  to  the  bodies,  as  well  as  to  the 
souls,  of  the  poor,  afflicted  people,  the  cardinal  engaged  a 
desperate  popish  priest  to  kill  him,  which  attempt  was  made 
in  the  following  manner. 

One  day,  after  he  had  finished  his  sermon,  and  the  people 
had  departed,  the  priest  stood  waiting  at  the  bottom  of  the 
stairs,  with  a  dagger  in  his  hand,  concealed  under  his  robe. 
The  minister  having  a  sharp,  piercing  eye,  and  seeing  the 
priest  as  he  came  from  the  pulpit,  said  to  him,  ''  My  friend, 
what  would  you  have  ?"  and  immediately  putting  his  hand 
upon  the  dagger  took  it  from  him.  The  priest  was  so 
terrified  that  he  fell  upon  his  knees,  confessed  his  intention, 
and  sought  pardon. 

This  created  so  much  disturbance  that  those  outside  burst 
open  the  gate  by  force,  and  seeing  the  cause,  were  about  to 
take  the  priest  by  force,  when  Wishart  showed  his  forgiving 
spirit,  by  taking  him  in  his  arms,  saying,  "  Whatsoever  hurts 
him,  shall  hurt  me ;  for  he  hath  done  me  no  mischief,  but 
much  good,  by  teaching  me  more  caution  for  the  time  to 
come."  By  this  conduct  he  saved  the  priest,  and  appeased 
the  people.  Baffled  in  this,  the  cardinal  again  conspired  his 
death,  causing  a  letter  to  be  sent  to  him,  as  if  it  had  been 


652  GEORGE     WISHART. 

from  his  familiar  friend,  the  laird  of  Kinnier,  in  which  he 
was  desired  to  come  to  him  in  great  haste,  because  he  was 
taken  with  a  sudden  sickness. 

In  the  meantime,  the  cardinal  had  provided  sixty  armed 
men,  to  lie  in  wait  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Montrose,  in 
order  to  murder  him  as  he  passed  that  way. 

The  letter  came  to  his  hands  by  a  boy,  who  also  brought 
him  a  horse  for  the  journey,  upon  seeing  which  he  set  for- 
ward, accompanied  by  some  of  his  friends ;  but,  something 
like  a  presentiment  taking  possession  of  his  mind,  he  turned 
back,  saying,  "  I  will  not  go  ;  I  am  forbidden  of  God ;  I  am 
assured  there  is  treason.  Let  some  of  you  go  yonder,  and 
tell  mo  what  you  find."  They  did  so,  and  discovered  the 
plot,  which  was  quickly  communicated  to  Wishart,  which 
drew  from  him  the  remark,  "I  know  I  shall  end  my  life  by 
the  hands  of  that  bloodthirsty  man,  but  it  will  not  be  in  this 
manner." 

A  short  time  after  this  he  left  Montrose,  and  proceeded  to 
Edinburg,  in  order  to  propagate  the  gospel  in  that  city. 
Lodging  with  a  faithful  brother  on  the  way,  he  arose  to  spend 
a  season  of  the  night  watches  in  prayer,  and,  for  the  purpose, 
retired  to  a  yard,  which  so  attracted  the  attention  and  excited 
the  curiosity  of  the  inmates  of  the  house  that  they  impor- 
tuned him  to  tell  them  the  reason  of  his  conduct.  "  I  am 
assured,"  said  he,  '^  that  my  warfare  is  near  at  an  end ;  and, 
therefore,  pray  to  God  with  me  that  I  shrink  not  when  the 
battle  waxeth  hot." 

The  cardinal,  intent  upon  his  death,  being  informed  that 
he  was  at  this  place,  caused  him  to  be  apprehended,  and  im- 
mediately brought  up  for  trial.  No  less  than  eighteen  arti- 
cles were  exhibited  against  him,  to  each  of  which  he  answered 
with  the  greatest  composure  of  mind,  and  in  so  learned  and 
clear  a  manner  as  greatly  surprised  most  of  those  who  were 
present. 

After  the  examination,  the  archbishop  endeavored  to  pre- 
vail on  him  to  recant ;  but  he  was  too  firmly  fixed  in  his 
religious  principles,  and  too  much  enlightened  with  the  truth 
of  the  gospel  to  be  in  the  least  moved. 


LADY    JANE    GREY.  553 

He  was  condemned  to  be  burnt,  and,  with  bags  of  gun- 
powder tied  about  his  body,  he  was  led  to  the  stake,  where 
he  earnestly  prayed,  with  Christ-like  spirit,  for  the  forgive- 
ness of  his  murderers.  The  governor  of  the  castle,  who 
stood  so  near  that  he  was  singed  with  the  flames,  exhorted 
him  in  a  few  words  to  be  of  good  cheer,  and  strengthen  him- 
self in  the  Lord.  "  This  flame,"  said  the  martyr,  "  indeed 
occasions  trouble  to  my  body,  but  it  hath  in  no  wise  broken 
my  spirit.  But  he  who  now  so  proudly  looks  down  upon 
me  from  yonder  lofty  place,  (pointing  to  the  cardinal,)  shall, 
ere  long,  be  as  ignominiously  thrown  down  sts  now  he 
proudly  lolls  at  his  ease :"  which  prediction  was  soon  after 
fulfilled. 

The  flames  gathered  strength,  so  that  his  voice  was  hushed, 
and,  in  less  than  an  hour,  the  work  was  done  ;  the  pulsations 
of  his  heart  were  stilled,  his  race  run,  the  victory  gained,  and 
his  spirit  safely  gathered  with  the  immortal  ones  around  the 
throne  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

fain  Mitnt  ireii. 

CROWS  BEQUEATHED  HER  BY  EDWARD  YI. ;  DEGRADED  BY  M.^Y; 
DIPRISOXED  AND  FINALLY  BEHEADED. 

5j(|  OONEE,  would  I  forfeit  ten  thousand  lives  than 
relinquish  a  particle  of  those  heavenly  principles  I 
have  received  from  the  sufii'ages  of  my  blessed 
Redeemer." 

This  was  the  sentiment  of  one  about  to  suffer 
death  for  his  religion,  nor  was  this  spirit  confined  to  man's 
sterner  nature,  with  his  strong  powers  of  endurance. 

Timid  and  gentle  females,  too,  beautifully  exemplified  the 
power  of  the  gospel,  and  gave  themselves  to  death  with  a 
firmness  that  nothing  could  move.    Faith,  all-conquering  faith, 


554  LADY    JANE    GREY. 

enabled  them  to  rise  superior  to  the  world,  and  bid  defiance 
to  their  enemies. 

Not  those  alone  who  trod  the  humble  pathway  of  life,  but 
those  of  higher  birth,  and  of  proud  position,  looked  above, 
and  perceiving  the  infinite  superiority  of  heavenly  things,  and 
attracted  by  the  glory  of  the  blissful  mansions,  forsook  the 
things  of  earth,  and,  with  steady  eye  and  trusting  heart, 
*' looked  for  a  better  country,  even  an  heavenly." 

Thus  was  it  with  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Though  reared 
in  affluence,  and  destined  for  the  throne,  her  heart  was  by  no 
means  engrossed  with  these  things  ;  for,  earthly  riches  and 
pleasures,  its  honors  and  emoluments,  all  grew  dim  before  the 
unfading  glories  of  the  celestial  world  that  beamed  upon  her 
soul  from  above. 

Lady  Jane  was  a  daughter  of  the  duke  of  Suffolk,  and, 
during  the  long  illness  of  Edward  VI.,  she  was  married  to 
Lord  Guilford,  son  to  the  duke  of  Northumberland. 

Soon  after  the  consummation  of  the  marriage,  the  increas- 
ing illness  of  the  king  rendered  it  necessary  to  establish  some 
one  upon  the  throne.  He  was  prevailed  upon  to  set  aside, 
by  his  last  will  and  testament,  his  two  sisters,  Mary  and 
Elizabeth,  and  bequeathed  his  crown  to  Lady  Jane. 

To  this  order  the  king's  council  all  subscribed,  and  all  of 
the  rest  of  the  nobility  and  officers  but  one,  who  having 
given  his  consent  to  Mary's  promotion,  would  on  no  account 
subscribe  to  any  other. 

This  state  of  things  greatly  excited  the  envy  of  Mary,  who 
forth'with  wrote  to  the  lords  of  the  council,  claiming  the 
crown  upon  her  brother's  decease.  The  reply  confirmed  the 
title  of  Lady  Jane,  Avith  words  of  caution  to  her  to  be  a  quiet 
and  faithful  subject  if  she  would  regard  her  own  peace  and 
interest.  She  immediately  left  London  in  a  private  manner, 
and  drew  about  her  a  sufficient  number  of  adherents  to 
proclaim  her  queen,  and  by  a  series  of  unjustifiable  wrongs, 
the  bigoted  Mary  was  seated  on  the  throne  of  England. 

No  sooner  was  the  sword  of  authority  put  into  her  hands, 
than  she  began  to  employ  it  against  those  who  had  supported 
the  title  of  Lady  Jane.     This  devoted  victim  remained  with 


LADY    JANE    GREY.  555 

her  husband,  Loi-d  Guilford,  almost  five  months  in  the  Tower, 
waiting  her  pleasure,  which  was  at  la^  made  known  in  speedy 
death. 

The  pious  and  christian  lady  heard  her  sentence  with 
composure,  for  she  had  a  home  in  the  heavens,  and  a  present 
Saviour  to  conduct  her  thither.  A  dark  valley  indeed — a 
swelling  stream,  lay  between  her  and  the  bright  fields  of  the 
better  land,  but  faith  quickly  traversed  these,  and  she  saw 
how  the  hand  of  her  enemies  would  hasten  her  departure, 
with  emotions  not  unmingled  with  pleasure. 

Two  days  before  her  death,  a  messenger  was  sent  to  her 
from  the  queen,  to  converse  with  her,  and  endeavor  to  turn 
her  from  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  the  reformation,  to  the 
religion  of  popery. 

"  Madam,"  said  he,  as  he  came  into  her  presence,  "  I  lament 
your  heavy  case,  and  yet  I  doubt  not  you  bear  this  sorrow 
of  yours  with  a  constant  and  patient  mind." 

"  Welcome,"  said  the  christian  lady,  "  if  you  come  to  give 
pious  exhortation.  As  for  my  heavy  case,  I  thank  God,  I 
little  lament  it,  but  rather  account  it  a  more  manifest  declara- 
tion of  God's  favor  toward  me,  than  ever  he  showed  me  before. 
Therefore  there  is  no  reason  why  you,  or  others  which  bear 
me  no  good  will,  should  lament  or  be  grieved,  this  being  a 
thing  so  profitable  for  my  soul's  health." 

A  long  conversation  followed,  in  which  the  Lady  Jane 
boldly  avowed  her  christian  opinions,  and  faith  in  Divine 
revelation. 

Her  visitor  finally  left  her,  saying,  "  I  am  sorry  for  you, 
for  I  am  sure  we  two  shall  never  meet  again." 

"  True,"  said  she,  "  we  never  shall  unless  God  turn  your 
heart,  for  I  am  assured  that  without  a  change  it  can  never  be." 

As  the  state  of  her  mind,  the  constancy  and  ardor  of  her 
faith,  is  particularly  manifest  in  her  letters  written  a  short 
time  previous  to  her  death,  we  give  a  few  extracts. 

The  first  written  to  her  father,  who  seemed  disposed  to 
favor  Catholic  views  for  sinister  purposes,  shows  how  she 
regarded  death  in  a  good  cause  ;  preferring  it  far  above  life 
employed  against  the  truth. 


556  LADY    JANE    GREY. 

"Although/'  said  she,  "  it  hath  pleased  God  to  hasten  my 
death  by  you,  by  whom  my  life  should  rather  have  been  length- 
ened, yet  I  can  so  praise  God,  as  to  yield  him  more  hearty 
thanks,  for  shortening  my  woful  days,  than  if  all  the  world  had 
been  given  unto  my  possession,  with  life  lengthened  at  my  own 
will.  Though  I  am  well  assured  of  your  impatient  griefs, 
redoubled  manifold  ways,  both  in  bewailing  your  own  state 
and  mine,  yet  my  dear  father,  it  seems  in  this  I  may  count 
myself  blessed,  that  washing  my  hands  in  innocency,  my 
guiltless  blood  may  cry  before  the  Lord,  'Mercy  to  the 
innocent.' 

"  Though  I  must  needs  acknowledge,  that  being  con- 
strained, in  taking  upon  me  I  seemed  to  consent,  and  therein 
grievously  offended  the  queen  and  her  laws,  yet  do  I  assur- 
edly trust,  that  this  my  offense  toward  God  is  so  much  the 
less,  in  that  being  in  royal  estate,  mine  enforced  honor  never 
blended  with  mine  innocent  heart. 

"  It  may  perhaps  seem  woful  to  you,  that  my  death  is  so 
near  at  hand,  but  to  me  nothing  can  be  more  welcome,  than 
from  this  vale  of  misery,  to  aspire  to  that  heavenly  throne 
of  joy  and  pleasure  with  Christ  my  Saviour. 

"  In  this  steadfast  faith  God  grant  that  we  may  continue 
till  we  may  meet  at  last  in  heaven." 

She  afterward  wrote  a  long  letter  to  her  father's  chaplain, 
who  had  fallen  from  the  truth  of  God's  holy  word,  discover- 
ing a  heart  jealous  for  the  cause  of  heaven,  and  in  no  wise 
absorbed  with  her  own  approaching  doom. 

"  So  oft,"  said  she,  "  as  I  call  to  mind  the  dreadful  and  fear- 
ful saying,  'That  he  which  layeth  hold  upon  the  plow, 
and  looketh  back,  is  not  meet  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven,' 
and,  on  the  other  side,  the  comforting  words  of  Christ  to 
those  who  forsake  all  for  Him,  I  marvel  at  thee,  and  so 
lament  thy  case,  that  I  am  constrained  to  speak. 

*'  If  the  terrible  and  thundering  threatenings  of  Scripture 
can  not  stir  thee  to  cleave  unto  Christ  and  his  word,  yet  let 
its  sweet  consolations  and  promises,  the  example  of  the 
Saviour  and  his  apostles,  holy  martyrs  and  confessors,  en- 
couraofe  thee  to  take  firmer  hold  on  the  Infinite. 


LADY     JANE     GREY.  557 

"  Be  not  ashamed  to  come  home  again  with  Mary,  and 
weep  bitterly  with  Peter,  not  only  shedding  the  tears  of 
your  bodily  eyes,  but  also  pouring  out  the  streams  of  your 
heart,  to  wash  away  out  of  the  sight  of  God,  the  sin  of  your 
offensive  fall. 

"Be  not  ashamed  to  say  with  the  publican,  *Lord,  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner.' 

"  Last  of  all,  let  the  lively  remembrance  of  the  last  day  be 
always  before  your  eyes,  remembering  the  terror  that  shall 
be  in  those  who  denied  Christ,  setting  more  by  the  world 
than  by  heaven  ;  more  by  their  life,  than  by  him  who  gave 
them  life,  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  inestimable  joys  prepared 
for  them  that  fear  no  peril,  nor  dreading  death,  have  man- 
fully sought,  and  victoriously  triumphed  over  all  the  powers 
of  darkness,  over  death  and  hell,  through  the  Captain  of  their 
salvation,  who  now  stretcheth  out  his  arms  to  receive  you, 
ready  to  fall  upon  your  neck  and  embrace  you,  and  to  feast 
you  with  the  dainties  of  his  own  predous  blood ;  which,  vm- 
doubtedly,  if  it  might  stand  with  his  determinate  purpose, 
he  would  not  scruple  to  shed  again,  rather  than  that  you 
should  be  lost." 

"  Be  constant,  be  constant  and  fear  not  for  pain, 
Christ  hath  redeemed  thee,  and  heaven  is  thy  gain." 

We  give  only  one  more,  and  that  one  written  the  night 
before  her  execution,  to  her  sister  Catharine,  which  attended 
a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  she  presented  to  her. 

"  I  have  here  sent  you  a  book,"  she  says,  "  which,  although 
it  be  not  outwardly  trimmed  with  gold,  yet  within  is  worth 
more  than  precious  stones.  It  is  the  book,  dear  sister,  of  the 
law  of  the  Lord.  It  is  his  testament  and  last  will,  which  he 
bequeathed  unto  us  ;  which  shall  lead  you  to  the  path  of 
eternal  joy — to  an  immortal  and  everlasting  life,  if  you 
observe  it  with  an  earnest  heart  and  holy  purpose. 

"  It  shall  teach  you  to  live,  and  learn  you  to  die.  It  shall 
win  you  more  than  you  would  have  gained  by  the  possession 
of  all  your  father's  lands. 

"  If  God  had  prospered  him,  these  you  would  have  inher- 
ited, but  if  you  apply  yourself  diligently  to  this  book,  seeking 


558  LADY    JANE    GEEY. 

to  direct  your  life  by  it,  you  shall  be  an  inheritor  of  such 
riches,  as  neither  the  covetous  shall  withdraw  from  you, 
neither  thief  steal,  or  moth  corrupt. 

"  Desire  with  David,  dear  sister,  to  understand  the  law  of 
the  Lord.  Live  still  to  die,  that  you  may  by  death  purchase 
eternal  life. 

"  Defy  the  world,  despise  the  flesh,  and  delight  yourself 
only  in  God.  Rejoice  in  him,  as  I  do.  Follow  the  steps  of 
your  Master,  and  take  up  your  cross,  and  as  touching  my 
death,  rejoice  with  me,  that  I  am  to  be  delivered  of  this  cor- 
ruption, and  put  on  incorruption.  I  am  assured,  that  I  shall, 
for  losing  a  mortal  life,  gain  an  immortal  one,  the  which  I 
pray  God  to  grant  you,  and  send  you  his  grace,  to  live  in  his 
fear,  and  to  die  in  the  true  christian  faith,  from  the  which  I 
exhort  you,  that  you  never  swerve,  neither  for  hope  of  life 
or  fear  of  death.  If  you  cleave  unto  Him,  He  will  prolong 
your  days  to  His  glory  and  your  comfort ;  to  which  glory 
God  brings  me  now,  and  you  hereafter,  when  it  pleaseth  Him 
to  call  you.  Farewell,  good  sister,  put  your  trust  in  God, 
who  only  can  help  you." 

Thus,  as  it  were,  hex  last  breath  was  spent  in  exhorting 
others  to  remain  true  to  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel. 

The  next  day  she  was  to  mount  the  scaffold,  and  bow  her 
head  to  the  stroke  of  the  executioner,  but  her  frail  nature  was 
buoyed  up  by  the  everlasting  arms,  and  in  their  circling 
power  she  was  well  satisfied. 

As  she  stood  before  the  multitude  who  assembled  around 
her,  she  said,  "  Good  people,  I  am  come  hither  to  die,  being 
condemned  by  law  to  the  same.  The  fact  against  the  quefen's 
highness  was  unlawful,  and  the  consenting  thereunto  by  me ; 
but  touching  the  desire,  or  procurement  thereof,  by  me,  or 
on  my  behalf,  I  do  wash  my  hands  in  innocency  before  God, 
and  the  face  of  you,  christian  people,  this  day. 

"  I  pray  you  to  bear  me  witness  that  I  die  a  true  christian 
woman,  and  that  I  look  to  be  saved  by  no  other  means,  than 
by  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ." 

tShe  then  made  the  requisite  preparations  for  her  person, 
committed  her  soul  to  Christ,  and  laid  her  head  upon  the 


JEROME,     OF     PRAGUE.  559 

block,  and  so  finished  her  life  on  the  12th  of  February,  in 
the  year  1554,  at  IT  years  of  age. 

Thus  in  the  spring-time  of  life — the  very  bloom  of  youth, 
she  closed  her  eyes  upon  this  world  to  receive  a  martyr's 
crown  above. 

It  is  a  singular  circumstance  related  of  the  judge  who  con- 
demned her,  that  soon  after,  he  was  deranged,  and  in  his 
delirium  cried  out  continually  to  have  the  Lady  Jane  taken 
from  him.  So  bitterly  did  conscience  reproach  him  for 
causing  the  death  of  the  innocent,  that  it  ended  his  days, 
shortening  them  in  despair. 

The  memory  of  this  noble  lady,  has  ever  been  cherished 
with  pious  admiration,  and  will  continue  to  be  while  there 
are  any  to  revere  the  christian  name,  and  magnify  the  grace 
of  God. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

luonu,   of  ^rapu. 

IIEETS  WLTE  THE  WORKS  OF  WICKLIFFE  AND  ESPOUSES  HIS  DOCTEIXE; 

IS  CALLED  BEFORE  THE  COUNCIL;  GOES  TO  THE  STAKE 

WITH  CHEISTL\N  FORTITUDE. 

f  JEROME,  of  Prague,  who  was  the  companion  of 
Huss,  and  may  be  said  to  be  co-martyr  Avith  him, 
was  born  at  Prague,  and  educated  in  that  univer- 
sity, where  he  particularly  distinguished  himself 
for  his  great  abilities  and  learning.  He  also  visited 
several  other  learned  seminaries  in  Europe,  particularly  the 
universities  of  Paris,  Heidelberg,  Cologne,  and  Oxford.  At 
the  latter  place  he  became  acquainted  with  the  works  of 
WicklifFe,  and  being  a  person  of  uncommon  application,  he 
translated  many  of  them  into  his  native  language,  having 
with  great  pains,  made  himself  master  of  the  English  tongue. 
On  his  return  to  Prague,  he  professed  himself  a  strong  ad- 
mirer of  Wickliffe,  and  finding  that  his  doctrines  had  made 


560 


JEROME,     OF     PRAGUE, 


considerable  progress  in  Bohemia,  and  that  Huss  was  the 
principal  promoter  of  them,  he  became  his  assistant  in  the 
great  work  of  reformation. 

On  the  4th  of  April,  1415,  he  arrived  at  Constance,  about 
three  months  before  the  death  of  Huss.  He  entered  the  town 
privately,  and  consulting  with  some  of  the  leaders  of  his 
party,  whom  he  found  there,  was  easily  convinced  he  could 
not  be  of  any  service  to  his  friend. 

Finding  that  his  arrival  was  publicly  known,  and  that 
the  council  intended  to  seize  him,  he  thought  it  prudent  to 
retire. 

Accordingly,  he  went  to  Iberling,  an  imperial  town  about 
a  mile  from  Constance. 

From  this  place  he  wrote  to  the  emperor,  and  proposed  his 
readiness  to  appear  before  the  council,  if  he  would  give  him 
a  safe  conduct ;  but  this  was  refused. 

He  then  applied  to  the  council,  bu.t  met  with  an  answer  no 
less  unfavorable  than  that  from  the  emperor.  Being  thus  dis- 
appointed, he  caused  papers  to  be  put  up  in  all  the  public 
places  in  Constance,  particularly  on  the  doors  of  the  cardinals' 
houses,  in  which  he  professed  his  readiness  to  appear  in  the 
defense  of  his  chara'cter  and  doctrine,  both  of  which,  he  said 
had  been  greatly  defamed. 

He  also  declared,  that  if  any  error  should  be  proved  against 
him,  he  would  with  great  readiness,  retract  it ;  begging  only 
that  the  faith  of  the  council  might  be  given  for  his  security. 
Not  receiving  any  answer  to  the  papers,  he  set  out  on  his 
return  to  Bohemia. 

He  had  the  precaution  to  take  with  him  a  certificate,  signed 
by  several  of  the  Bohemian  nobility  then  at  Constance,  testi- 
fying that  he  had  used  all  prudent  means  in  his  power  to 
procure  his  hearing. 

He  did  not,  however,  thus  escape.  He  was  seized  at 
Hirsaw,  by  an  officer  belonging  to  the  duke  Sallsbach,  who, 
though  unauthorized  so  to  act,  had  little  doubt  of  obtaining 
the  favor  of  the  council,  for  what  he  deemed  so  acceptable  a 
service. 

The  duke,   having   Jerome  in  his   power,  wrote  to   the 


JEROME,    OF    PRAGUE.  561 

council  for  directions  how  to  proceed.  After  expressing  their 
obligations  to  the  duke,  they  desired  him  to  send  the  prisoner 
immediately  to  Constance.  The  elector  palatine  met  him  on 
the  way,  and  conducted  him  into  the  city,  himself  riding  on 
horseback,  with  a  numerous  retinue,  who  led  Jerome  in  fet- 
ters by  a  long  chain  ;  and  immediately  on  his  arrival  he  was 
committed  to  a  loathsome  dungeon. 

He  was  treated  in  nearly  the  same  manner  as  Huss  had 
been,  only  that  he  Avas  much  longer  confined,  and  taken  from 
one  prison  to  another. 

At  length,  being  brought  before  the  council,  he  desired  that 
he  might  plead  his  own  cause,  and  exculpate  himself,  which 
being  refused  him,  he  broke  out  into  the  following  excla- 
mation : 

"  What  barbarity  is  this  ?  For  three  hundred  and  forty 
days  have  I  been  confined  in  a  variety  of  prisons.  There  is 
not  a  misery,  there  is  not  a  want,  which  I  have  not  experi- 
enced. To  my  enemies  you  have  allowed  the  fullest  scope 
of  accusation :  to  me,  you  deny  the  least  opportunity  of  de- 
fense. Not  an  hour  will  you  now  indulge  me  in  preparing 
for  my  trial.  You  have  listened  to  the  blackest  calumnies 
against  me.  You  have  represented  me  as  an  heretic,  without 
knowing  my  doctrine  ;  as  an  enemy  to  the  faith,  before  you 
knew  what  faith  I  professed  ;  as  a  persecutor  of  priests,  before 
you  could  have  any  opportunity  of  understanding  my  senti- 
ments on  that  head. 

You  are  a  general  council ;  in  you  center  all  this  world  can 
communicate  of  gravity,  wisdom,  and  sanctity ;  but  still  you 
are  men,  and  men  are  seducible  by  appearances.  The  higher 
your  character  is  for  wisdom,  the  greater  ought  your  care  to 
be,  not  to  deviate  into  folly. 

The  cause  I  now  plead  is  not  my  own  cause  ;  it  is  the  cause 
of  men ;  it  is  the  cause  of  christians  ;  it  is  a  cause,  which  is 
to  affect  the  rights  of  posterity,  however  the  experiment  is 
to  be  made  in  my  person." 

This  speech  had  not  the  least  effect.  He  was  obliged  to 
hear  his  chai-ge  read,  which  was  reduced  to  five  heads : 

1.  That  he  was  a  derider  of  the  papal  dignity. 
36 


562  JEROME,    OP    PRAGUE. 

2.  Ail  opposer  of  the  pope. 

3.  An  enemy  to  the  cardinals. 

4.  A  persecutor  of  the  prelates. 

5.  An  hater  of  the  cliiistian  religion. 

To  each  of  these  several  charges  Jerome  answered  with  an 
amazing  force  of  elocution,  and  strength  of  argument. 

"  Now,"  said  he,  "  whither  shall  I  turn  me  !  To  my  accu- 
sers? My  accusers  are  as  deaf  as  adders.  To  you,  my 
judges  ?     You  are  all  prepossessed  by  the  arts  of  my  accusers," 

After  this  he  was  remanded  to  his  dungeon.  His  trial  was 
brought  on  the  third  day  after  his  accusation,  and  witnesses 
were  examined  in  support  of  the  charge. 

The  prisoner  was  prepared  for  his  defense,  which  appears 
almost  incredible,  when  we  consider  that  he  had  been  three 
hundred  and  forty  days  shut  up  in  prisons,  deprived  of  day- 
light, and  almost  starved  for  want  of  common  necessaries. 

But  his  spirit  soared  above  these  disadvantages,  under  which 
a  man  less  animated,  would  have  sunk ;  nor  was  he  more  at  a 
loss  for  quotations  from  fathers  and  ancient  authors,  than  if 
he  had  been  furnished  with  the  finest  library. 

The  most  bigoted  of  the  assembly  were  unwilling  he  should 
be  heard,  knowing  what  effect  eloquence  is  apt  to  have  on  the 
minds  of  the  most  prejudiced.  At  length,  however,  it  Avas 
carried  by  the  majority,  that  he  should  have  liberty  to 
proceed  in  his  defense,  which  he  began  in  such  an  exalted 
strain  of  moving  elocution,  that  the  heart  of  obdurate  zeal 
was  seen  to  melt,  and  the  mind  of  superstition  seemed  to  ad- 
mit a  ray  of  conviction.  He  made  an  admirable  distinction 
betAveen  evidence  as  resting  on  facts,  and  as  supported  by 
malice  and  calumny.  He  laid  before  the  assembly  the  whole 
tenor  of  his  life  and  conduct.  He  observed  that  the  greatest 
and  most  holy  men  had  been  known  to  differ  in  points  of  specu- 
lation, with  a  view  to  distinguish  truth,  not  to  keep  it  concealed. 

He  expressed  a  noble  contempt  of  all  his  enemies,  who 
would  have  induced  him  to  retract  the  cause  of  virtue  and 
truth.  He  entered  upon  an  high  encomium  on  Huss ;  and 
declared  he  was  ready  to  follow  him  in  the  glorious  track  of 
martyrdom. 


JEEOME,    OF    PRAGUE.  563 

The  trial  being  over,  he  received  the  same  sentence  that 
had  been  passed  upon  his  companion.  In  consequence  of 
this  he  was,  in  the  usual  style  of  popish  affectation,  delivered 
over  to  the  civil  power ;  but  as  he  was  a  layman  he  had  not 
to  undergo  the  ceremony  of  degradation  which  some  had 
endured. 

They  had  prepared  a  cap  of  paper,  painted  with  hideous 
figures,  which  they  put  upon  his  head  ;  upon  which  he  meekly 
said,  "  The  Lord  Jesus,  when  he  suffered  death  for  me — a 
miserable  sinner,  wore  a  crown  of  thorns  upon  his  head ;  and 
I,  for  his  sake,  will  wear  this." 

Two  days  were  allowed  him  in  hopes  that  he  would  recant ; 
in  which  time  the  cardinal  of  Florence  used  his  utmost 
endeavors  to  bring  him  over.  But  they  all  proved  ineffectual. 
He  was  resolved  to  seal  his  doctrine  with  his  blood ;  and  he 
suffered  death  with  the  most  distinguished  magnanimity. 

In  going  to  the  place  of  execution  he  sung  several  hymns  ; 
and  when  he  came  to  the  spot,  which  was  the  same  where 
Huss  had  been  burnt,  he  kneeled  down  and  prayed  fervently. 
He  embraced  the  stake  with  great  cheerfulness  and  reso- 
lution ;  and  when  the  executioner  went  behind  him  to  set  fire 
to  the  fagots,  he  said,  "  Come  here,  and  kindle  it  before  my 
eyes ;  for  if  I  had  been  afraid  of  it,  I  had  not  come  to  this 
place,  having  had  so  many  opportunities  to  escape." 

The  fire  being  kindled,  he  sung  a  hymn,  but  was  soon  in- 
terrupted by  the  flames  ;  and  the  last  words  he  was  heard  to 
say  were  ^hese  : 

"  This  soul  in  flames,  I  offer,  Christ,  to  thee !" 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

|oljK  |Ugcrs. 

CIRCUMSTANCES  OF  CONVERSION ;  PERSECUTION  UNDER  MART ;  GIVES  HIS 
LIEE  IN  DEFENSE  OF  THE  GOSPEL. 

fF.OHN  ROGERS,  vicar  of  St.  Sepulchre's,  and  reader 
of  St.  Paul's,  London,  Avas  educated  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Cambridcre,  and,  at  lencrth,  chosen  chap- 
'  lain  to  the  English  factory  at  Antwerp,  in  Brabant- 
There  he  became  acquainted  with  one  Tindal, 
whom  he  assisted  in  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  with  Miles  Coverdale,  who,  with  several  other  worthy 
Protestants,  had  been  driven  out  of  England,  on  account  of 
the  persecutions  in  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

By  conversation  with  these  worthy  and  pious  servants  of 
God,  he  came  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and  thus  be- 
came deeply  enlisted  in  the  Redeemer's  kingdom,  desiring  to 
spend  his  energies  in  the  holy  cause. 

He  went  to  Wittenberg,  in  Saxony,  where,  through  inde- 
fatigable study  and  application,  he  attained  such  a  knowledge 
of  the  Dutch  language  as  to  be  capable  of  taking  charge  of  a 
christian  congregation  in  that  part  of  Europe. 

He  cast  off  all  popish  superstitions,  idolatry  and  restrictions, 
and  labored  faithfully  and  diligently  in  the  service  of  his 
heavenly  master,  until  it  pleased  God  to  dispel  the  mists  of 
popish  darkness  from  his  native  country,  and  restore  the 
glorious  light  of  the  pure  gospel,  by  the  introduction  of  his 
chosen  servant,  Edward  VI.,  to  the  throne  of  England. 

Being  then  called,  he  left  his  living  in  Saxony  and  went  to 
England  to  preach  the  gospel  without  any  previous  condition, 
appointment,  or  establishment  whatever.  Thus  do  we  see  the 
holy  zeal  and  disinterestedness  of  these  men  in  extending  the 
triumphs  of  the  cross.  It  was  not  the  applause  of  men  they 
sought,  for  this  they  knew  they  would  not  obtain  ;  it  was  not 

(564) 


JOHN    ROGEKS.  565 

the  wealth  and  good  things  of  this  world  that  influenced  them, 
for  it  oftener  deprived  them  of  what  they  had ;  neither  was 
it  love  of  ease,  or  pride  of  position,  for  it  was  attended  with 
exhausting  labor,  and  exposed  them  to  privation,  suffering 
and  death  in  a  variety  of  forms.  It  was  the  simple  power 
of  the  gospel  that  moved  them,  and  this  was  mightier  than 
the  combined  attractions  of  the  world. 

After  laboring  in  the  vineyard  of  Christ  with  great  success 
for  some  time.  Dr.  Ridley,  then  bishop  of  London,  gave 
Rogers  a  prebend  in  his  cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul's ;  of 
which  he  was  afterward  chosen  by  the  dean  a  divinity  lecturer, 
or  reader  of  divinity  in  that  church. 

Here  he  continued  till  queen  Mary,  soon  after  her  acces- 
sion, banished  the  true  religion,  and  again  introduced  the 
superstition  and  idolatry  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  with  all  the 
horrid  cruelties  of  blood-thirsty  Antichrist. 

When  Mary  was  in  the  Tower  of  London,  imbibing  Gardi- 
ner's pernicious  counsels,  Rogers  preached  at  Paul's-cross, 
confirming  those  doctrines  which  he  and  others  taught  there 
in  king  Edward's  days,  and  exhorted  the  people,  with  peculiar 
energy,  to  continue  steadfast  in  the  same,  and  to  beware  of 
the  Mse  tenets  of  pestilent  popery. 

For  this  sermon  the  preacher  was  summoned  before  the 
council,  then  filled  with  popish  bishops,  before  whom  he 
pleaded  his  cause  in  so  pious,  bold,  and  yet  prudent  a  manner 
as  to  obviate  their  displeasure  for  a  time,  and  procure  his 
dismissal. 

But,  after  Mary's  proclamation  to  prohibit  the  preaching  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  reformed  religion,  for  a  contempt  of  the 
same,  he  was  again  summoned  before  a  council  of  bishops, 
who,  after  having  debated  upon  the  nature  of  his  offense, 
ordered  him  to  keep  close  prisoner  in  his  own  house,  from 
which  he  never  departed,  though  he  had  many  fair  oppor- 
tunities to  escape. 

He  saw  the  recovery  of  the  true  religion,  at  that  time,  des- 
perate ;  he  knew  he  should  want  for  a  living  in  Germany, 
sufficient  for  the  wants  of  a  large  family,  consisting  of  a  wife 
and  ten  children ;  but,  all  these  considerations  could  not  move 


566  JOHN    ROGERS. 

him.  He  determined,  resolutely,  after  he  had  been  called  to 
answer  for  Christ's  cause,  not  to  desert  it ;  and  resolved  to 
hazard  his  life  in  support  of  the  truth. 

In  this  state  of  confinement  he  remained  a  considerable 
time,  till,  at  the  instigation  of  the  cruel  Bonner,  bishop  of 
London,  he  was  removed  from  his  own  house  to  Newgate, 
and  placed  among  the  common  felons. 

What  passed  between  him  and  the  adversaries  of  Christ, 
during  the  time  of  his  imprisonment,  is  not  certainly  known. 
Some  account  of  his  examinations,  in  his  own  handwriting, 
have  been  preserved,  which  show  a  firm  adherence  to  gospel 
truth  on  his  part,  notwithstanding  the  fearful  and  repeated 
threats  of  wicked  men. 

He  continued  in  prison  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  cheerful 
and  earnest  in  all  his  pursuits  ;  writing  much,  and  doing 
good  as  he  had  opportunity. 

At  length,  on  a  morning  of  February,  he  was  suddenly 
aroused  from  his  slumber  with  the  intelligence  that  he  must 
prepare  for  the  flames,  which  awaited  him.  One  thing  only 
he  asked, — the  privilege  of  meeting  with  his  family  once 
more  ere  he  went  from  them  forever ;  but,  the  cruel  heart  of 
his  merciless  tormentor  would  not  allow  him  even  this,  and 
he  was  led  to  the  stake  with  the  expectation  of  never  seeing 
them  more  in  this  world. 

They  met  him  on  the  way,  however,  and,  be  it  ascribed  to 
the  all-sustaining  power  of  the  gospel,  the  sight  of  his  sorrow- 
ing and  afflicted  family  moved  him  not. 

Doubtless  he  gazed  on  them  with  all  a  father's  yearning 
affection,  and  a  husband's  tender  sympathy,  and  would  gladly 
have  remained  to  lead  them  on  through  the  troubled  paths 
of  life,  were  it  the  Divine  will.  But  his  obligations  to  God 
were  paramount  to  all  others,  and  he  cheerfully  resigned  the 
dearest,  sweetest  pleasures  of  this  life  at  the  call  of  his 
Heavenly  Master,  and  gained  thereby  the  more  precious  joys 
in  the  kingdom  above. 

He  was  asked  to  recant  his  opinions,  to  which  he  answered, 
"That  what  he  had  preached  he  would  seal  with  his  blood." 
"  Then,"  said  the  sheriff",  "  thou  art  an  heretic  "     To  this  he 


JOHN    HOOPER. 


567 


replied,  "  That  shall  be  known  at  the  day  of  judgment. "  This, 
of  course,  excited  the  rage  of  his  persecutors,  and  hastened 
them  to  perform  the  deed,  which  only  more  speedily  intro- 
duced him  to  a  far  happier  scene. 

For  the  defense  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  he  took  his  death 
with  wonderful  patience,  and  ascended  from  a  bed  of  flames 
to  the  throne  on  high,  there  to  receive  the  approving  sentence 
of  heaven,  and  to  enter  upon  the  everlasting  reward  of  the 
faithful  in  a  world  of  eternal  joy  and  blessedness. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

SPIRITUAL  LIFE ;  FILLS  THE  TLACE  OF  STEWARD;  FLEES  FOR  EIS  LIFE; 

RETURNS,  AND  IS  CHOSEN  BISHOP ;  EXPULSION,  AND  FINAL 

CONDEMNATION. 

1^^  OOPER  was  a  student  and  graduate  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  where  he  distinguished  himself 
for  his  abundant  proficiency  in  the  sciences, 
which,  united  with  his  present  love  for  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  eminently  fitted  him  for  the 
work  of  maintaining  and  defending  the  true  religion. 

Growing  more  and  more,  by  God's  grace,  in  ripeness  of 
spiritual  understanding,  and  manifesting  the  fervency  of  his 
spirit,  being  then  about  the  time  of  excitement  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII. ,  he  obtained  the  displeasure  and  hatred  of 
certain  doctors  at  Oxford,  who  began  to  stir  up  opposition 
against  him,  whereby,  and  especially  by  the  procurement  of 
one  Dr.  Smith,  he  was  compelled  to  quit  the  university. 
Removing  from  thence,  he  was  received  into  the  house  of  Sir 
Thomas  Arundel,  and  became  his  steward,  till  the  intelligence 
of  his  opinions  and  religion  were  made  known  to  him.  He 
did  not  favor  the  christian  views  of  Hooper,  but  felt  a  very 
particular  regard  for  him  as  a  man.  He  found  means  to  send 
him  with  a  message  to  the  bishop  of  Winchester,  at  the  same 


568  JOHN    HOOPER. 

time  secretly  writing  a  letter  to  him,  Avith  a  request  that,  in 
any  case,  his  servant  might  be  sent  back  to  him. 

The  bishop,  after  long  conference  with  Hooper,  four  or  five 
days  together,  at  length  perceiving  that  he  could  neither  do 
that  good  which  he  thought  to  him,  nor  that  he  would  take 
any  good  at  his  hand,  according  to  Arundel's  request,  sent 
him  home  again,  commending  him  for  his  learning  and  wit, 
but  yet  harboring  ill-will  in  his  breast,  against  the  man. 

Not  long  after  this,  as  malice  is  always  working  evil,  in- 
telligence was  given  to  him,  to  provide  for  himself,  as  danger 
threatened  him. 

Upon  this  Hooper  took  his  journey  to  the  sea-side  to  go  to 
France,  and  reaching  Paris,  he  tarried  there  for  a  little 
season,  but  in  a  short  time  returned  to  England  again,  where 
he  was  entertained  by  a  friend  till  he  was  molested  and 
sought  for  the  second  time. 

This  compelled  him  to  take  to  the"  seas,  and  he  escaped 
through  France,  to  the  higher  parts  of  Germany,  where  he 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  several  learned  men,  who  hon- 
ored him  with  their  intimate  friendship,  and  made  his  stay 
there  both  profitable  and  pleasant. 

At  Zurich,  he  applied  himself  very  studiously  to  the  study 
of  the  Hebrew  language,  and  here  also  he  married  his  wife, 
who  was  a  Burgonian. 

At  length  God  saw  fit  to  give  a  season  of  rest  and  com- 
parative quiet  unto  the  churches,  under  the  reign  of  king 
Edward  ;  and  among  the  English  exiles,  who  then  repaired 
homeward,  was  Hooper,  Avho  was  desirous  of  helping  forward 
the  Lord's  work  to  the  utmost  of  his  ability  in  his  native 
place.  His  German  friends,  who  had  formed  a  strong  at- 
tachment for  him,  bade  him  a  reluctant  adieu,  sorrowing  for 
themselves,  but  rejoicing  for  the  church  of  Christ  which 
would  be  so  much  benefited  by  his  labors. 

On  coming  to  London,  he  preached  continually,  at  least, 
once  every  day  and  oftentimes  twice. 

In  his  sermons,  according  to  his  accustomed  manner,  he 
corrected  sin,  and  sharply  inveighed  against  the  iniquity  of 
the  world,  and  corrupt  abuses  of  the  church. 


JOHN     HOOPER.  569 

Multitudes  flocked  daily  to  hear  his  voice,  as  the  most 
melodious  sound  of  Orpheus  harp,  insomuch  that  often  when 
he  Avas  preaching,  the  church  was  insufficient  to  contain 
those  who  attempted  to  find  entrance. 

In  his  doctrine  he  was  earnest,  in  tongue  eloquent,  in  the 
Scriptures  perfect,  and  in  pains  indefatigable. 

He  was  of  sound  body,  firm  health,  keen  wit,  and  invin- 
cible patience,  which  enabled  him  to  sustain  whatever  sinis- 
ter fortune  and  adversity  could  do. 

He  bore  in  countenance  and  conversation  a  certain  reserve 
and  grace,  which  some  perhaps  might  have  wished  more 
popular  and  familiar  ;  but  such  were  his  views  of  life,  and 
his  impressions  of  the  future,  that  it  made  him  thus,  to  a 
great  degree.  So  calculated  was  his  whole  bearing  to  inspire 
a  feeling  of  awe,  that  every  one  could  not  approach  him. 

An  honest  citizen  once  came  to  his  door  for  counsel,  but 
being  abashed  at  his  seemingly  austere  appearance,  he  was 
deterred  from  his  purpose,  and  departed  to  seek  from  others 
the  desired  aid. 

From  the  duties  of  an  ordinary  minister,  he  was  called  to 
preach  before  the  king's  majesty,  and  soon  after  made  bishop 
of  Gloucester  by  the  king's  commandment.  In  that  office  he 
continued  two  years,  and  so  secured  the  confidence  and 
respect  of  the  people,  that  even  his  enemies  could  find  no 
occasion  to  speak  against  him,  although  they  sought  it. 

Animated  by  the  highest  and  purest  motives,  he  labored 
incessantly  to  save  the  souls  of  his  flock.  He  was  chosen 
bishop,  and  no  father  in  his  household,  no  gardener  in  his 
garden,  nor  husbandman  in  his  vineyard,  was  more  diligently 
or  better  occupied,  than  he  in  his  diocese  among  his  flock, 
going  about  his  towns  and  villages  in  teaching  and  preaching  to 
the  people  there.  The  time  he  had  to  spare  from  his  minis- 
terial labors,  he  bestowed  either  in  hearing  public  causes,  or 
else  in  private  study,  prayer,  and  visiting  of  schools.  With 
his  continual  doctrine,  he  united  due  and  discreet  correction, 
and  to  none  was  it  given  more  severely,  than  to  those  who 
for  abundance  of  riches  and  wealthy  state,  thought  themselves 
exonerated  from  the  duties  of  ordinary  christian  citizens. 


570  JOHN    HOOPER. 

In  this  manner^  he  executed  the  office  of  a  most  careful 
and  vigilant  pastor,  for  the  space  of  two  years  or  more,  it 
being  in  the  time  of  king  Edward,  when  Christianity  was 
somewhat  nourished. 

On  the  accession  of  Mary  to  the  throne,  religion  was  sub- 
verted and  changed,  and  this  good  bishop  was  one  of  the 
first  who  was  sent  for  to  London  to  answer  to  the  charges  of 
his  enemies.  His  holy  manner  of  living  stirred  up  the  op- 
position of  those  unacquainted  with  the  pure  doctrines  of 
the  cross,  and  they  sought  in  his  jiersecution  the  gratification 
of  their  envious,  malicious  feelings. 

His  friends  admonished  him  to  take  precautions  for  the 
safety  of  his  life,  and,  though  not  ignorant  of  the  danger 
which  threatened  him,  he  was  regardless  of  their  admonitions, 
saying,  "  Once  did  I  flee,  and  take  me  to  my  feet ;  but,  now, 
because  I  am  called  to  this  place  and  vocation,  I  am  thorough- 
ly persuaded  to  tarry,  and  to  live  and  die  with  my  flock." 

Accordingly,  he  prepared  to  appear  before  the  bishop  of 
London,  and  was  there  summoned  to  come  before  the  queen 
and  her  council,  to  answer  to  certain  bonds  and  obligations, 
wherein,  as  they  represented,  he  was  bound  to  her.  His 
fearless  declaration  of  his  innocency  cleared  himself,  but  the 
willful  blindness  of  his  accusers  prevented  them  from  doing 
justice  to  the  man,  and  he  was  deprived  at  once  of  the  privi- 
lege, so  dear  to  him,  of  preaching  Christ  to  perishing  men. 
Nor  were  they  content  with  this.  It  was  not  enough  to 
silence  that  voice  whose  tones  had  sounded  so  sweetly  in  the 
ears  of  sin-sick  men,  telling  of  peace  and  pardon,  rest  and 
joy,  beyond  the  reach  of  persecuting  mortals.  They  pro- 
cured his  condemnation,  delivered  him  over  to  the  sheriffs, 
and  led  him  to  the  city  of  Newgate  in  the  evening,  taking 
care  to  extinguish  the  lights  on  the  way,  thinking  darkness 
the  fittest  for  the  execution  of  their  unhallowed  purposes. 

Notwithstanding  this  device,  the  news  of  his  coming  had 
preceded  him,  and  many  came  to  their  doors  with  lights, 
and  saluted  him,  praising  God  for  his  constancy  in  the  true 
doctrine  which  he  had  taught  them,  and  desiring  God  to 
strengthen  him  in  the  same  to  the  end. 


JOHN     HOOPER.  571 

He  was  committed  to  prison,  where  he  was  kept  six  days, 
denied  the  pleasure  of  intercourse  with  any  one.  Though 
human  sympathy  was  not  allowed  him,  we  may  well  suppose 
his  spirit  was  cheered  by  such  manifestations  of  his  Saviour's 
approving  countenance  as  to  more  than  compensate  for  the 
withdrawal  of  earth's  best  good. 

Upon  his  keeper's  communicating  the  intelligence  to  him 
that  he  would  probably  return  to  Gloucester  to  suffer  death, 
he  was  filled  with  joy,  because,  in  such  case,  he  could  confirm 
the  truth  which  he  had  taught  the  people  there  by  his  death, 
not  doubting  but  that  he  should,  through  Divine  grace,  be 
enabled  to  triumph  in  the  last  hour.  He  was,  at  length, 
conducted  thither,  surrounded  by  a. band  of  men  as  a  guard, 
and  on  his  arrival  was  greeted  by  an  old  friend,  who  ex- 
pressed much  sorrow  that  he  was  to  meet  with  such  a  fate. 

<<  True,"  said  Hooper,  "  death  is  bitter,  and  life  is  sweet ; 
but,  consider  that  the  death  to  come  is  more  bitter,  and  the  life 
to  come  is  more  sweet.  Therefore,  for  the  desire  and  love  I 
have  to  the  one,  and  terror  and  fear  of  the  other,  I  do  not 
much  regard  this  death,  nor  esteem  this  life,  but  have  settled 
myself,  through  the  strength  of  God's  spirit,  patiently  to  pass 
through  the  torments  and  extremities  of  the  fire  rather  than 
to  deny  the  truth  of  his  word,  desiring  you  and  others,  in  the 
meantime,  to  commend  me  to  God's  mercy  in  your  prayers." 

He  had  intercourse  with  several  of  his  friends,  and  was 
then  conducted  to  his  chamber,  where  he  requested  to  be 
left  alone  till  the  hour  of  his  execution. 

It  came,  and  seven  thousand  people  assembled  to  witness 
the  closing  scene  of  this  good  man's  life.  As  he  came  to  the 
place  appointed  for  him  to  die,  he  smilingly  beheld  the  stake 
and  the  preparation  made  for  him,  which  was  under  an  elm 
tree  near  the  college  where  he  had  been  wont  to  preach. 

Here  a  pardon  was  offered  him,  if  he  would  avow  himself 
a  supporter  of  the  queen's  religion,  but  he  rejected  it  with 
holy  contempt,  saying,  "  If  you  love  my  soul,  away  with  it." 

Orders  Avere  immediately  given  to  dispatch  him  quickly, 
and  forthwith  preparations  were  made  to  bind  him  to  the 
stake.     *'  You  have  no  need  thus  to  trouble  yourselves,"  said 


572  ROWLAND    TAYLOR. 

he,  "  I  doubt  not  God  will  give  me  strength  sufficient  to 
abide  the  extremity  of  the  fire,  without  bands  ;  notwith- 
standing, suspecting  the  weakness  and  frailty  of  the  flesh,  I 
am  content  you  shall  do  as  you  think  best."  He  was  bound, 
a  slow  fire  kindled,  and  for  three-quarters  of  an  hour  he 
quietly  endured  the  flames,  and  then  resigned  his  breath,  to 
enter  those  blissful  mansions  prepai-ed  for  the  faithful  in 
Christ  before  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Through  "  much 
tribulation,"  indeed,  he  entered  the  kingdom ;  but,  the  vic- 
tory once  gained,  it  is  gained  for  ever. 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

FAITHTUL  PREACHmO  ;  CAUSE  OF  APPREHENSION ;  APPEARANCE  BEFORE 
THE  BISHOP;  SENTENCE  OF  CONDEMNATION. 

I  HE  town  of  Hadley  was  one  of  the  first  that  re- 
ceived the  word  of  God,  at  the  preaching  of  the 
1^    Eev.    Thomas   Bilney  ;    by  whose   industry  the 
gospel  of  Christ  took  such  root  there,  that  a  great 
number  became  exceedingly  well  learned  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  as  well  women  as  men. 

In  this  parish  Dr.  Rowland  Taylor  was  a  vicar  ;  a  man  of 
eminent  learning,  and  who  had  been  admitted  to  the  degree 
of  doctor  of  the  civil  and  canon  law. 

His  attachment  to  the  pure  and  uncorrupted  principles  of 
Christianity  recommended  him  to  the  favor  and  friendship  of 
Dr.  Cranmer,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  with  whom  he  lived 
a  considerable  time,  till  through  his  interest  he  obtained  the 
living  of  Hadley.  This  charge  he  attended  with  the  utmost 
diligence  and  assiduity,  recommending  and  enforcing  the  doc- 
trines of  the  gospel  not  only  by  his  judicious  discourses  from 
the  pulpit,  but  also  by  the  whole  tenor  of  his  life  and 
conversation. 

His  faith  was  sound,  and  consequently  productive  of  good 


ROWLAND    TAYLOR.  573 

■works  :  that  faith,  indeed,  which  in  Scripture  is  deemed  the 
gift  of  God, — ^is  always  known  by  its  fruits,  according  to  the 
apostle  James.  *'  For  as  the  body  without  the  spirit  is  dead, 
so  faith  without  works  is  dead  also." 

Thus  he  continued  promoting  the  interests  of  the  great 
Redeemer,  and  the  souls  of  mankind,  both  by  his  preaching 
and  example,  during  the  reign  of  king  Edward  VI.,  but  on 
his  demise,  and  the  succession  of  queen  Mary  to  the  throne, 
he  escaped  not  the  cloud  that  burst  on  so  many  beside ;  for 
two  of  his  parishioners,  Foster,  an  attorney,  and  Clark,  a 
tradesman,  out  of  blind  zeal,  resolved  that  mass  should  be 
celebrated  in  all  its  superstitious  forms,  in  the  parish  church 
of  Hadley,  on  Monday  before  Easter  ;  nay,  they  had  even 
caused  an  altar  to  be  built  in  the  chancel  for  that  purpose, 
which  being  pulled  down  by  the  Protestant  inhabitants,  they 
erected  another,  and  prevailed  with  the  minister  of  an  adja- 
cent parish  to  celebrate  mass  in  the  passion  week. 

The  doctor  being  employed  in  his  study,  was  alarmed  at  the 
ringing  of  bells  at  an  unusual  time,  but  went  to  the  church 
to  inquire  the  cause.  He  found  the  great  doors  fast,  but  lift- 
ing up  the  latch  of  the  chancel  door,  he  entered  and  was  not 
a  little  surpi'ised,  to  see  a  priest  in  his  habit  prepared  to 
celebrate  mass,  guarded  by  a  party  of  men  under  arms  to 
prevent  interruption. 

Dr.  Taylor,  being  vicar  of  the  parish,  demanded  of  the 
priest  the  cause  of  such  proceeding  without  his  knowledge 
or  consent ;  and  how  he  dared  profane  the  temple  of  God  with 
abominable  idolatries.  Foster,  the  lawyer,  insolently  replied, 
"  Thou  traitor,  how  darest  thou  to  intercept  the  execution  of 
the  queen's  orders ;"  but  the  doctor  undauntedly  denied  the 
charge  of  traitor,  and  asserted  his  mission  as  a  minister  of 
Christ,  and  delegation  to  that  part  of  his  flock,  commanding 
the  priest,  as  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  to  depart,  nor  infect 
the  pure  church  of  God  with  popish  idolatry.  A  violent  al- 
tercation then  ensued,  between  Foster  and  Taylor,  the  former 
asserting  the  queen's  prerogative,  and  the  other  the  authority 
of  the  canon  law,  which  commanded  that  no  mass  be  said, 
but  at  a  consecrated  altar. 


574  ROWLAND     TAYLOR. 

The  priest,  intimidated  by  the  intrepid  behavior  of  the 
Protestant  minister,  would  have  departed  without  saying 
mass,  but  Clark  said  to  him.  Fear  not,  you  have  a  suj)re 
attare,  (which  is  a  consecrated  stone,  commonly  about  a  foot 
square,  which  the  popish  priests  carry  instead  of  an  altar, 
when  they  say  mass  in  gentlemen's  houses,)  proceed  and  do 
your  duty. 

They  then  forced  the  doctor  out  of  the  church,  celebrated 
mass,  and  immediately  informed  the  lord  chancellor,  bishop 
of  Winchester,  of  his  behavior,  who  summoned  him  to  appear 
before  him,  and  answer  the  complaints  that  were  alleged 
against  him. 

Upon  receipt  of  the  summons,  the  doctor  cheerfully  pre- 
pared to  obey  the  same ;  and  on  some  of  his  friends  advising 
him  to  fly  beyond  the  sea,  in  order  to  avoid  the  cruelty  of 
his  inveterate  enemies,  he  told  them  that  he  was  determined 
to  go  to  the  bishop,  being  ready  and  willing  to  declare  the 
motives  of  his  behavior  to  the  popish  emissaries,  and  defend 
the  doctrines  he  had  taught,  as  well  as  persuaded  that  he 
could  not  die  in  a  better  cause  ;  so  having  committed  his  peo- 
ple to  the  care  of  a  pious  and  faithful  minister  of  Christ,  he 
repaired  to  London,  and  waited  on  the  bishop.  As  may  be 
supposed,  he  was  reviled  and  reproached,  but  in  the  spirit  of 
meekness,  declared  himself  a  true  subject  and  christian  man. 
"  Knowest  thou  not  who  I  am  ?"  said  the  bishop.  "  Yes  !" 
replied  the  worthy  minister,  "  thou  art  Dr.  Stephen  Gardiner, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  and  lord  chancellor,  and  yet  but  a  mortal 
man.  Bat  if  I  should  be  afraid  of  your  lordly  looks,  why 
fear  you  not  God,  the  Lord  of  us  all  ?  How  dare  you  look 
any  christian  man  in  the  face,  seeing  you  have  forsaken  the 
truth,  denied  the  Saviour  and  his  word,  and  done  contrary  to 
your  own  oath  and  writing  ?  With  what  countenance  will 
you  appear  before  the  judgment  seat  of  Christ  to  answer  for 
yourself?" 

A  long  examination  followed,  in  which  the  doctor  boldly 
rebuked  his  adversaries,  and  fearlessly  maintained  his  own 
position,  as  did  two  or  three  of  kindred  spirit,  who  were  with 
him.     When  the  bishops  saw  them  so  bold,  and  immovably 


ROWLAND    TAYLOR.  575 

fixed  in  the  truth,  they  read  the  sentence  of  death  upon 
them,  which,  when  they  heard,  they  joyfully  gave  thanks  to 
God,  and  said  :  "  We  doubt  not  but  God,  the  righteous 
Judo-e,  will  require  our  blood  at  your  hands;  and  the 
proudest  of  you  all  shall  repent  this  receiving  again  of  Anti- 
christ, and  your  tyranny  that  you  now  shew  against  the  flock 

of  Christ." 

The  doctor  being  condemned,  was  committed  to  the  Clink, 
and  the  keepers  were  charged  to  keep  him  straitly  ;  "  for  you 
have  now  another  manner  of  charge,"  said  the  lord  chancellor 
"  than  you  have  had  before  ;  thei'efore  look  you,  take  heed 

to  it." 

When  the  keeper  brought  him  toward  the  prison,  the 
people  flocked  about  to  gaze  upon  him  ;  unto  whom  he  said, 
«  God  be  praised,  good  people,  I  am  come  away  from  them 
undefiled,  and  will  confirm  the  truth  with  my  blood." 

He  was  confined  in  the  Clink,  till  toward  night,  and  then 
removed  to  the  Compter,  where  he  remained  about  a  week, 
during  which,  he  was  repeatedly  solicited  to  renounce  the 
christian  faith,  but  tlireats  and  menaces  availed  not ;  he  was 
true  and  firm. 

Here  his  family  visited  him,  and  received  from  him  kind 
and  christian  counsel,  and  an  earnest  exhortation  to  remain 
steadfast  unto  Christ  and  his  word. 

Finding  there  was  no  hope  of  his  recantation,  he  was  or- 
dered to  repair  to  the  place  appointed  for  his  death,  which  he 
did  joyfully,  as  one  going  to  a  pleasant  banquet. 

He  moved  those  about  him  to  tears,  in  his  earnest  calling 
upon  them  to  repent  and  turn  to  Christ ;  and  excited  their 
wonder  by  his  constancy  and  steadfastness,  and  his  readiness 
to  die. 

Multitudes  gathered  about  him,  grieved  to  part  with  so 
good  a  man,  but  he  neared  the  stake  with  holy  triumph, 
and  saw  the  faggots  kindled  about  him  ; — welcoming  them 
as  the  instruments  that  should  release  his  spirit  from  its 
mortal  tenement,  and  transport  it  to  those  regions  where 
nothing  could  harm  him. 

Thus  rendered  this  man  of  God  his  soul  into  the  hands  of 


676  RAWLINS    WHITE. 

his  merciful  Father  and  Saviour,  whom  he  most  intensely 
loved,  faithfully  and  earnestly  preached,  obediently  followed 
in  life,  and  glorified  in  death. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

PIETY  IN  HUMLE  LIFE ;  EFFORTS  TO  BECOME  ACQUAINTED  WITH  SCRIP- 
TURAL TRUTH ;   FHIMNESS  UNTO  DEATH  IN  THE  GOOD  CAUSE. 

T  WAS  not  those  alone  of  eminent  attainments 
in  learning,  and  high  position  in  the  church  of 
Christ,  that  had  the  fortitude  to  seal  the  truth 
with  their  blood.  Many  of  humble  abilities,  in 
the  lowly  walks  of  life,  exhibited  quite  as  much 
firmness  and  constancy  in  the  good  cause  as  they. 

IlaAvlins  White  was  a  poor  fisherman,  and  for  a  long  time 
a  partaker  of  the  superstition  and  idolatry  prevalent  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  Eighth.  But  after  God,  in  his  mercy,  had 
raised  up  the  light  of  the  gospel  under  the  milder  govern- 
ment of  Edward  Sixth,  he  began  to  dislike  his  former  ways, 
and  strongly  desire  a  better  and  more  enduring  way. 

Pie  was  altogether  unlearned,  and  withal  very  simple,  and 
he  knew  no  way  whereby  he  might  satisfy  his  desires. 

At  length  it  came  into  his  mind,  to  employ  a  special 
remedy  to  supply  his  necessity,  which  was  this  :  He  had  a 
little  boy,  whom  he  resolved  to  send  to  school  to  learn  to 
read  English.  He  did  so,  and  when  he  could  read  indiffer- 
ently well,  his  father,  every  night,  summer  and  winter,  would 
seat  him  by  his  side  and  listen,  while  he  read  the  Bible,  or 
now  and  then  some  good  book. 

In  this  exercise  the  old  man  had  such  pleasure,  and  laid 
up  such  portions  in  his  memory,  that  within  a  few  years  he 
was  able  to  admonish  and  instruct  others  ;  and  therefore 
when  occasion  served,  he  would  go  from  one  place  to  another, 
visiting  those  he  had  the  most  hope  of  profiting. 


RAWLINS    WHITE.  577 

In  this  way  he  became  a  notable  and  open  professor  of  the 
truth,  and  showed  such  correctness  hi  rehearsing  texts  of 
Scripture,  that  it  is  said,  men  of  riper  and  more  profound 
knowledge,  by  their  notes  and  other  helps  of  memory,  could 
scarcely  compare  with  him. 

After  the  death  of  Edward,  he  was  obliged  to  be  more 
quiet  in  his  exhortations,  and  in  some  private  place  he  would 
call  his  trusty  friends  together,  and  pass  away  the  time  in 
earnest  prayer,  and  contemplation  of  heavenly  truth,  and 
thus  was  instrumental  in  the  conversion  of  many,  and  doubt- 
less would  have  been  of  many  more,  had  not  the  cruel  storm 
of  persecution  begun.  He  was  at  last  so  pursued  by  the  ene- 
mies of  Christianity,  that  he  was  in  hourly  expectation  of 
being  forced  to  prison ;  whereupon,  many,  who  had  received 
comfort  from  his  instructions,  resorted  unto  him,  earnestly 
persuading  him  to  dispose  of  his  goods  for  the  use  of  his  wife 
and  children,  and  flee  from  the  imminent  danger  which 
threatened  him  personally. 

He  thanked  them  heartily  for  their  kind  intentions,  but 
stood  unmoved  by  their  persuasions,  telling  them  plainly, 
that  he  had  learned  one  good  lesson  touching  the  confession 
and  denial  of  Christ ; — that  if  he,  upon  their  solicitation, 
should  presume  to  deny  Christ,  Christ  in  the  last  day  would 
deny  and  utterly  condemn  him ;  "  and  therefore,  by  His  grace," 
said  he,  "  I  will  confess  and  bear  witness  of  Him  before  men, 
that  I  may  find  in  Him  everlasting  life." 

Notwithstanding  this  answer,  his  friends  were  still  very 
importunate  with  him,  but  he  adhered  firmly  to  his  purpose, 
till  at  last,  he  was  taken  by  the  officers  of  the  town,  as  one 
suspected  of  heresy,  and  brought  before  the  bishop,  by 
whom,  after  many  conflicts,  he  was  committed  to  prison.  He 
was  afterward  removed  to  a  castle,  where  he  was  confined  for 
the  space  of  twelve  months,  and  then  taken  out  for  further 
trial.  While  before  the  bishop,  he  endeavored  by  various 
means  to  reduce  him  to  some  conformity,  but  finding  his 
threatening  words  and  flattering  promises  inefiectaal,  he 
desired  him  to  advise  and  determine  with  himself,  either  to 
recant  his  opinions,  or  else  to  suffer  the  rigor  of  the  law,  and 

37 


578  EAWLINS    WHITE. 

gave  him  a  time  to  consider  and  decide.  -  The  day  being 
come,  the  bishop,  with  his  chaplains,  went  into  the  chapel, 
with  a  great  number  of  the  neighbors  that  had  the  curiosity 
to  witness  the  proceedings. 

When,  the  bishop  and  his  retinue  were  placed  in  order,  the 
prisoner  was  brought  before  them,  and,  after  a  long  discourse, 
declaring  the  cause  for  which  he  was  sent,  the  bishop  said, 
"  If  you  will  shew  yourself  penitent  for  that  which  you  have 
done  toward  God  and  the  law,  we  are  ready  to  shew  you 
favor ;  but,  if  by  no  means  we  can  persuade  you  touching 
your  reformation,  we  are  determined  upon  administering  the 
law."  When  he  had  made  an  end  of  speaking,  Rawlins  boldly 
replied,  "  My  lord,  I  thank  God,  I  am  a  christian  man,  and  I 
hold  no  opinions  contrary  to  the  word  of  God ;  and,  if  I  do,  I 
desire  to  be  reformed  out  of  the  word  of  God,  as  a  christian 
man  ought  to  be."  Seeing  that  he  would  in  no  wise  recant, 
the  bishop  told  him  plainly  that  he  must  proceed  against  him 
by  the  law,  and  condemn  him  as  an  heretic. 

*'  Proceed  in  your  law,"  said  Rawlins  ;  "  but,  for  an  heretic 
you  shall  never  condemn  me,  while  the  world  stands." 

"  But,"  said  the  bishop,  turning  to  his  company,  "  before 
we  proceed  any  further  with  him,  let  us  pray  to  God  that  he 
would  send  some  spark  of  grace  upon  him,  and  it  may,  per- 
haps, be  that  God,  through  our  prayers,  will  here  turn  his 
heart." 

When  Rawlins  heard  this,  he  said,  "Ah !  my  lord,  now  you 
deal  well  and  like  a  godly  bishop,  and  I  thank  you  most 
heartily  for  your  great  charity  and  gentleness.  Christ  saith, 
'  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my  name,  I  will 
be  in  the  midst  of  them  ;'  and  there  is  more  than  two  or  tlii'ee 
of  you.  Now,  if  it  be  so  that  your  request  be  godly  and 
lawful,  and  that  ye  pray  as  ye  should  pray,  without  doubt, 
God  will  hear  you.  And,  therefore,  my  lord,  do  you  pray  to 
your  God,  and  I  will  pray  to  mine.  I  know  that  my  God 
will  both  hear  my  prayer  and  perform  my  desire." 

The  bishop  with  his  company  then  prayed,  during  which 
time  the  man  condemned  by  mortals  found  freedom  of  spirit 
in  his  converse  with  the  Eternal. 


RAWLINS    WHITE.  579 

As  they  arose,  the  bishop  said,  "  Now,  Rawlins,  how  is  it 
with  thee  ?  "Wilt  thou  revoke  thy  opinions  or  no  ?"  "  Sure- 
ly, my  lord,"  was  the  reply,  "  Rawlins  you  left  me,  Rawlins 
you  find  me,  and,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Rawlins  I  will  con- 
tinue. If  your  petitions  had  been  just  and  lawful,  God 
would  have  heard  them ;  but,  you  honor  a  false  God,  and 
pray  not  as  you  should  pray,  and,  therefore,  God  has  not 
granted  your  desire.  But,  I  am  a  poor  simple,  as  you  see, 
and  God  has  heard  my  complaint,  and  I  trust  he  will 
strengthen  me  in  his  own  cause." 

When  the  bishop  perceived  this  hypocrisy  of  theirs  took 
no  effect,  his  indignation  moved  him  to  pass  immediate  sen- 
tence of  condemnation ;  but,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  chap- 
lain, it  was  thought  best  to  say  mass,  thinking  it  possible  a 
change  might  still  be  wrought  in  the  feelings  of  the  good 
man. 

But  he  interrupted  them  in  the  midst  of  it,  saying,  "  Good 
people,  if  there  be  any  brethren  among  you,  or,  at  least,  if 
there  be  but  one  brother,  the  same  one  bear  witness  at  the  day 
of  judgment  that  I  bow  not  to  this  idol." 

His  steadfastness  remained  such  they  dismissed  all  hopes 
of  producing  recantation,  and  committed  him  to  prison,  where 
he  remained  for  some  time. 

About  three  weeks  before  he  suffered,  the  head  ofhcers  of 
the  town,  that  had  the  charge  of  his  execution,  were  deter- 
mined to  burn  him,  that  they  might  be  the  sooner  rid  of  him, 
although  they  had  no  writ  to  that  effect,  as  the  law  required. 
This,  however,  was  speedily  obtained,  and  a  guard  was  sent 
to  conduct  him  to  the  stake. 

As  he  beheld  them,  on  their  approach,  he  said,  "  "What 
meaneth  all  this  ?  By  God's  grace,  I  will  not  run  away ;  with 
all  my  heart  and  mind,  I  give  God  most  hearty  thanks  that 
he  hath  made  me  worthy  to  abide  all  this  for  his  name's 
sake." 

On  his  way  he  met  his  wife  and  children,  the  sight  of  whom 
so  affected  him  the  tears  coursed  down  his  cheeks ;  but, 
immediately  striking  upon  his  breast,  he  exclaimed,  "Ah ! 
flesh,  hinderest  thou  me  so  ?     Wouldst  thou  fain  prevail  ? 


580  LAWEENCE    SAUNDERS. 

Well !  I  tell  thee,  do  what  thou  canst,  thou  shalt  not,  by- 
God's  grace,  have  the  victory." 

From  this  time  he  went  on  cheerfully,  and,  on  reaching 
the  stake,  embraced  it,  rejoicing  to  die  for  the  testimony  of 
God's  truth. 

"  Bind  me  fast,"  said  he,  "for  it  may  be  the  flesh  will  strive 
mightily  ;  but,  God  of  his  great  mercy  give  me  strength  and 
patience  to  abide  the  extremity." 

It  was  even  as  he  desired,  and,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his 
age,  he  thus  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

f  afornue  Saunkrs. 

EAELY  PREDILECTION  TOR  A  MINISTER'S  LIEE  ;  ARrREHENDED  EOR  TREASON, 
AND  BURNT  AT  THE  STAKE. 

FTEE.  queen  INIary,  by  pu|plic  proclamation,  in 
the  first  year  of  her  reign,  had  prohibited  the 
preaching  of  God's  word,  several  pious  minis- 

d  r^^i^^^  ^'^^^'  ^'^^°  ^^^^  ^^^^  charge  of  souls  committed  to 
them,  continued  to  feed  their  flock  faithfully, 
not  as  those  authorized  by  public  authority,  as  in  the  happy 
days  of  king  Edward,  but  as  private  pastors  of  particular 
flocks. 

Among  these  was  Lawrence  Saunders,  a  man  eminently 
devoted  to  the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry.  He  had  been 
brought  up  in  learning  from  his  youth,  and  was  chosen  from 
the  school  of  Eton,  to  go  to  the  king's  college  in  Cambridge, 
where  he  continued  a  scholar  three  years,  making  remarkable 
proficiency  in  the  various  departments  of  learning. 

Shortly  after,  he  visited  his  widowed  mother,  who  was 
desirous  of  his  becoming  a  merchant,  and  in  obedience  to  her 
solicitations,  he  entered  the  store  of  a  merchant  in  London. 

Thus,  by  the  mind  of  his  friends,  he  must  needs  have  been 
engaged  in  secular  pursuits  ;  but  God,  who  hath  his  secret 


LAWRENCE    SAUNDERS.  581 

working  in  all  things,  saw  better  for  his  servant,  as  it  proved 
in  the  end.  Although  bound  by  indenture,  the  Lord  so 
wrought  upon  his  mind  by  His  spirit,  that  he  could  feel  no 
interest  in  his  vocation ;  and  while  his  companions  were 
busily  occupied  in  their  trade,  he  Avould  withdraw  himself  to 
some  solitary  place,  and  there  spend  his  time  in  contempla- 
tions of  a  different  nature. 

His  master  was  a  good  man,  and  observing  this  disposition 
in  the  young  man,  called  him,  and  inquired  into  the  cause  of 
his  apparent  melancholy  and  indifference.  Saunders  declared 
his  preference  for  a  more  spiritual  life,  and  like  a  good  and 
benevolent  man,  the  merchant  gave  him  his  indentures,  and 
set  him  free.  Delighted  in  being  no  longer  in  the  traffic  of 
merchandise,  he  returned  again  to  study  in  Cambridge, 
where  he  began  to  add  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Latin,  the 
study  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew,  to  which  he  united  a  diligent 
perusal  of  the  Scriptures,  to  furnish  himself  for  the  office  of 
preacher. 

His  application  was  painful  and  severe,  and  his  improve- 
ment consequently  very  rapid. 

In  the  beginning  of  Edward's  reign,  when  gospel  religion 
was  introduced,  he  obtained  license,  and  began  to  preach, 
and  was  so  well  liked  of  those  who  then  had  authority,  that 
they  appointed  him  to  read  divinity  lectures,  in  the  college  at 
Fothringham,  where  by  doctrine  and  life,  he  edified  the 
pious,  drew  many  ignorant  to  the  knowledge  of  salvation, 
and  stopped  the  mouths  of  adversaries. 

He  labored  in  different  places,  till,  the  time  of  the  disturb- 
ance occasioned  by  the  claim  that  Mary  made  to  the  crown. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  excitement,  he  preached  at  North- 
ampton, interfering  not  however  with  state  affairs,  but  boldly 
spoke  against  popish  doctrines,  which  were  like  to  spring  up 
again  in  England.  The  queen's  party  heard  it,  and  were  so 
highly  displeased,  that  they  kept  him  among  them  as  a  pris- 
oner. They  finally  dismissed  him,  as  no  law  was  broken  by 
his  preaching,  which  would  warrant  his  detention.  Seeing 
the  dreadful  days  at  hand,  and  inflamed  with  holy  zeal,  he 
renewed  his  christian  efforts  with  new  diligence,  till  he  was 


682  LAWEENCE    SAUNDERS. 

again  arrested  in  his  work,  by  one  of  tlie  queen's  counselors. 
Overtaking  Saunders  one  day,  he  asked  him  whither  he 
went  ?  "I  have  a  charge,"  said  he,  "  in  London,  and  I  go  to 
instruct  them,  according  to  my  duty."  *'  Follow  my  counsel," 
said  the  man,  "  and  let  them  alone."  "  How  then  shall  I  be 
discharged  before  God,"  said  the  godly  minister,  "  if  any  be 
sick,  and  desire  consolation,  if  any  want  good  counsel,  and 
need  instruction  ?  or  if  any  should  slip  into  error,  and  receive 
false  doctrine  ?" 

Both  went  on  their  way,  the  ojie  to  do  the  will  of  his 
Master  in  heaven,  the  other  to  further  his  own  selfish  designs, 
by  informing  the  queen  against  a  good  man.  She  sent  an 
officer  to  take  him  in  the  midst  of  his  preaching,  and  bring 
him  before  the  bishop,  on  a  charge  of  treason  for  breaking 
the  queen's  proclamation,  and  also  for  his  sermon  which 
savored  of  sedition  and  heresy. 

He  was  tried  as  an  heretic,  and  during  his  examination,  he 
was  requested  to  write  his  views  of  transubstantiation.  He 
did  so,  saying,  "  My  lord,  you  seek  my  blood,  and  you  shall 
have  it.  I  pray  God,  that  you  may  be  so  baptized  with  it, 
that  hereafter  you  may  become  a  better  man." 

The  bishop,  when  he  had  his  will,  sent  him  to  the  lord- 
chancellor,  as  Annas  sent  Christ  to  Caiaphas ;  and  he  found 
like  favor  with  his  Master  before  him. 

"  Carry  him  to  prison,"  was  the  cry,  and  as  he  heard  it,  he 
gave  God  thanks  that  he  had  found  a  place  of  rest  and  quiet, 
where  he  might  pray  for  the  conversion  of  souls. 

So  true  is  it,  that 

"  Prayer  is  the  christian's  yital  breath, 
The  christian's  native  air." 

He  remained  in  prison  fifteen  months,  during  which  time 
he  wrote  many  letters  to  his  friends,  full  of  christian  con- 
fidence and  heavenly  consolation. 

He  was  finally  degraded,  and  condemned  to  be  burnt,  and 
on  the  8th  of  February,  1555,  he  was  led  to  the  stake. 
He  was  naturally  of  a  very  timid  disposition,  but  went  to 
the  place  of  execution  with  cheerful  courage,  a  conqueror 
through  Him  who  died  upon  the  cross. 


THOMAS    HAWKS.  583 

He  embraced  the  stake,  and  kissed  it,  saying,  "  Welcome 
the  cross  of  Christ,  welcome,  everlasting  life,"  and  soon  fell 
asleep  in  the  Lord,  forever  to  enjoy  the  full  fruition  of  those 
blessed  hopes  which  enabled  him  to  meet  death  so  tri- 
umphantly. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

BRIGHT  EXAITPLE  OF  INTEGRITT  AND  DEVOTION ;  TRIUMPH  IN  THE  HOUR 
OF  HIS  DISSOLUTION. 

]HOMAS  HAWKS  was  of  the  county  of  Essex, 
in  calling  and  profession  a  courtier,  brought  up 
in  affluence  from  his  childhood,  with  the  advan- 
tages of  refined  and  polished  society. 

Besides,  he  was  of  such  comeliness  of  person 
by  nature  so  well  endowed  with  excellent  qualities,  that  he 
might  seem  to  be  a  man,  as  it  were,  made  for  the  purpose. 

But  his  gentle  behaviour  toward  others,  and  especially  his 
fervent  study  and  singular  love  unto  true  religion  and  piety, 
surmounted  all  the  rest. 

"  Wherein,"  says  an  English  writer,  "  God  did  singularly 
adorn  him,  even  so  he,  being  such  a  valiant  martyr  of  God, 
may  seem  to  make  famous  the  whole  company  of  other  holy 
martyrs,  and,  as  a  bright  star,  to  make  the  church  of  God 
and  his  truth  of  themselves  bright  and  clear,  more  gloriously 
to  shine  by  his  example."  For,  if  the  conquests  of  martyrs 
are  triumphs  of  Christ,  as  Ambrose  declares,  undoubtedly, 
Christ  in  few  men  hath  either  conquered  more  notably,  or 
triumphed  more  gloriously,  than  in  this  young  man ;  he  stood 
so  wisely  in  his  cause,  so  pious  in  his  life,  and  so  constant  in 
his  death. 

Following  the  fashion  of  the  court  at  first,  as  he  grew  in 
years,  he  entered  service  with  the  lord  of  Oxford,  where  he 


584  THOMAS    HAWKS. 

remained  for  a  considerable  time,  being  liigbly  esteemed  and 
loved  by  all  the  household,  so  long  as  Edward  the  Sixth 
lived.  After  his  death  all  things  began  to  go  backward, 
religion  to  decay,  true  piety  not  only  to  wax  cold  but  also  to 
be  in  danger  every  where,  especially  in  the  houses  of  great 
men. 

Hawks,  disliking  this  state  of  things,  and  particularly  in 
such  men's  houses,  rather  than  he  would  change  the  profes- 
sion of  true  godliness,  which  he  had  tasted,  thought  to  change 
the  place ;  and,  forsaking  the  nobleman's  house,  he  departed 
to  his  own  home,  where  he  might  more  freely  give  himself 
to  the  service  of  God,  and  enjoy  the  freedom  of  his  own 
conscience. 

But  what  place  in  this  world  shall  a  man  find  so  secret  for 
himself,  whither  the  adversary  can  not  creep,  fully  intent  on 
measures  to  disturb  the  quietness  of  the  godly  ?  He  had  a 
young  child,  whose  baptism  was  deferred,  because  he  would 
not  suffer  it  to  take  place  after  the  manner  of  the  papists. 
This  excited  the  indignation  of  his  adversaries,  who  im- 
mediately laid  hands  on  him,  and  brought  him  before  the 
earl  of  Oxford,  there  to  be  reasoned  with  as  not  sound  in 
religion,  in  that  he  seemed  to  contemn  the  ordinances  of  the 
church. 

The  earl,  either  intending  not  to  trouble  himself  in  such 
matters,  or  else  seeing  himself  not  able  to  sustain  his  side  of 
the  argument,  sent  him  up  to  London  with  a  messenger  and 
letters,  and,  desirous  of  clearing  his  own  hands,  put  him  in 
the  hands  of  Bonner,  the  bishop,  to  be  dealt  with  according 
to  his  discretion. 

Finding  no  satisfaction  in  the  lengthy  conversation  which 
took  place  between  them,  the  bishop  pronounced  him  a  here- 
tic, and  threatened  him  with  death,  still  keeping  up  his  solicit- 
ations to  induce  him  to  return  to  the  mother  church  ;  to  which 
he  ever  replied,  "  No,  my  lord,  I  will  not;  for,  if  I  had  a 
hundred  bodies,  I  would  suffer  them  all  to  be  torn  in  pieces, 
rather  than  abjure  and  recant." 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  doctors  and  lawyers,  reiterated 
their  calls  for  him  to  come  over  to  the  unity  of  the  church ; 


THOMAS    HAWKS.  585 

but  his  unvarying  answer  v^s,  that  he  would  never  go  from 
the  behef  he  was  in  as  long  as  he  lived. 

Seeing  that  their  efforts  were  all  in  vain,  the  sentence  of 
death  was  pronounced  upon  him,  which  was. to  take  effect 
on  the  ninth  of  February.  His  execution  was,  however, 
prolonged,  and  he  remained  in  prison  till  the  tenth  of  June, 
when  he  was  committed  to  the  hands  and  charge  of  Lord 
Eich,  who  had  a  sufficient  delegation  of  power  to  enable 
him  to  finish  the  work. 

While  on  his  way  to  the  scene  that  was  to  terminate  his 
life,  he  used  much  exhortation  to  his  friends,  and  improved 
every  opportunity  to  familiarly  admonish  them.  A  little 
before  his  death,  there  were  several  of  his  intimate  ac- 
quaintances and  friends  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  seek- 
ing his  society,  seeming  to  be  greatly  confirmed  both  by  the 
example  of  his  constancy  and  his  pious  conversation. 

Being  terrified  at  the  prospect  of  such  great  suffering  as 
was  before  him,  they  privately  desired  that  in  the  midst  of 
the  flames  he  would  show  them  some  token,  if  he  could, 
whereby  they  might  be  more  certain  whether  the  pain  of 
burning  were  so  great  that  a  man  might  not  keep  his  mind 
quiet  and  patient  therein. 

This  he  promised,  and  it  was  agreed  between  them  that 
if  the  rage  of  the  pain  were  tolerable  and  might  be  endured, 
then  he  would  lift  his  hands  above  his  head,  toward  heaven, 
before  he  expired. 

Not  long  after,  when  the  hour  was  come,  he  was  led  to 
the  spot  prepared  for  him,  and  there  he  mildly  and  patient- 
ly prepared  himself  for  his  doom. 

He  reasoned  with  his  persecutors,  of  the  innocent  blood 
of  saints,  and,  having  offered  a  fervent  prayer,  he  suffered 
the  fire  to  be  kindled. 

His  speech  was  taken  away  by  the  violence  of  the  flame, 
and,  M'hen  every  one  thought  he  was  gone,  as  if  mindful  of  the 
promise  he  had  made,  he  threw  up  his  burning  hands  with  evi- 
dent rejoicing,  and  forthwith  from  those  who  understood  the 
matter  there  went  up  a  shout  that  the  victory  was  gained. 

He  immediately  sank  into  the  fire,  and   the  life  of  this 


586  JOHN    BRADFORD. 

constant  and   faithful  witness  (tf  Christ's   holy  gospel  was 
closed,  it  being  the  tenth  of  June,  1555. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

IITERAEY  ATTAINMENTS;  IS  PERSUADED  TO  ENTER  THE  MINISTRY; 
IMPRISONED,  AND  FINALLY  SUFFERS  MARTYRDOM. 

IHIS  man  was  born  at  Manchester,  in  Lancashire. 
His  parents  brought  him  up  in  learning  from  his 
infancy,  until  he  attained  such  knowledge  in  the 
Latin  tongue,  and  skill  in  writing,  that  he  was 
able  to  gain  his  own  living  by  his  exertions  in 
this  direction. 

He  became  servant  to  Sir  John  Harrington,  knight,  who 
in  the  great  affair  of  king  Henry  Eighth,  and  Edward 
Sixth,  which  he  had  in  hand  when  he  was  treasurer  of  the 
king's  camps  and  buildings,  at  divers  times  in  Boulognois, 
had  such  experience  of  Bradford's  activity  in  waiting,  his 
expertness  in  the  art  of  auditors,  as  also  his  faithful  trusti- 
ness, that  not  only  in  those  affairs,  but  in  many  others  of  his 
private  business,  he  placed  particular  confidence  in  him. 

Bradford  continued  several  years  in  an  honest  and  thriving 
way,  after  the  course  of  this  world,  but  his  mind  could  not  be 
satisfied  with  following  after  the  perishable  things  of  earth, 
which  endure  but  a  little  time,  and  then  pass  away  forever. ' 
The  Lord  had  elected  him  unto  a  better  function,  and  pre- 
ordained him  to  preach  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  for  this  He 
called  this  chosen  servant  to  the  understanding  and  partak- 
ing of  the  same  gospel.  In  this  he  was  so  truly  taught, 
that  forthwith  his  effectual  call  was  perceived  by  the  fruits. 
He  forsook  his  worldly  affairs  and  forwardness  in  worldly 
wealth,  and  after  a  just  account  given  to  his  master  of  all 
his  doings,  he  departed  from  him,  and  with  marvelous  favor 
to  further  the  kingdom   of  God  by  the  ministry  of   His 


JOHN     BRADFOKD.  587 

Holy  Word,  he  gave  himself  wholly  to  the  study  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  The  better  to  accomplish  his  design,  he  departed 
from  the  Temple  at  London,  and  went  to  the  university  of 
Cambridge,  to  learn  by  God's  law,  how  to  further  the  build- 
ing of  the  Lord's  temple.  In  Cambridge,  his  diligence  in 
study,  his  profiting  in  knowledge  and  pious  conversation, 
obtained  for  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  in  a  short  time. 

Immediately  after,  he  obtained  an  appointment  at  the  col- 
lege of  Pembroke  Hall ;  and  that  good  man,  Martin  Bucer, 
so  liked  him,  that  he  not  only  highly  esteemed  him  as  a 
friend,  but  oftentimes  exhorted  him  to  bestow  his  talent  in 
preaching.  To  this  Bradford  always  answered,  that  he  was 
unable  to  serve  in  that  office  through  want  of  learning  ;  but 
Bucer  was  wont  to  reply,  "  If  thou  hast  not  fine  wheat  bread, 
then  give  the  poor  people  barley  bread,  or  whatsoever  else 
the  Lord  hath  committed  unto  thee." 

While  he  was  thus  persuaded  to  enter  the  ministry,  Rid- 
ley, that  worthy  bishop  of  London,  and  glorious  martyr  of 
Christ,  according  to  the  order  that  then  was  in  the  church 
of  England,  called  him  to  take  the  degree  of  deacon.  This 
being  done,  he  obtained  for  him  a  license  to  preach,  and 
gave  him  a  prebend  in  his  cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul's. 

He  labored  diligently  in  the  ministry  for  the  space  of 
three  years.  Sharply  he  reproved  sin,  sweetly  he  preached 
Christ  crucified,  ably  he  disproved  heresies  and  errors,  ear- 
nestly he  persuaded  to  godly  life. 

After  the  death  of  Edward  VI.,  when  queen  Mary  had 
received  the  crown,  he  still  continued  faithful,  till  he  was 
unjustly  deprived  of  both  his  office  and  liberty,  by  the  queen 
and  her  council. 

The  occasion  of  his  deprivation  was  his  interference  to 
save  one  Bourne,  who  had  excited  the  indignation  of  the 
people  against  himself,  by  a  sermon  on  the  Sabbath,  with 
regard  to  popery.  He  was  not  permitted  to  finish,  and 
Bradford  being  behind  him  in  the  pulpit,  was  called  forth  to 
stand  in  his  place  and  speak  to  the  people.  He  arose  and 
spake  of  quiet  and  godly  obedience,  and  when  they  heard 
his  voice,  a  shout  was  heard,  "  Bradford,  God  save  thy  life. 


688  JOHN     BRADFORD. 

Bradford  ;"  well  declaring  not  only  what  affection  they  had 
for  him,  but  also  what  regard  they  felt  for  his  words. 

The  same  Sunday  in  the  afternoon,  he  preached  at  Bow 
church,  in  Cheapside,  and  reproved  the  people  sharply  for 
their  misdemeanor.  After  this  he  abode  still  in  London, 
with  an  innocent  conscience  awaiting  the  anticipated  results 
of  his  plain  dealing. 

Within  three  days  after,  he  was  sent  for  to  the  Tower  of 
London,  where  the  queen  then  was,  to  appear  before  the  coun- 
cil. There  he  was  charged  with  the  act  of  saving  Bourne, 
which  they  called  seditious  ;  and  they  also  objected  against 
him  for  preaching.  He  was  first  committed  to  the  ToAver, 
then  to  other  prisons,  out  of  which  neither  his  innocency, 
piety,  nor  charitable  dealing,  could  purchase  to  him  liberty 
of  body,  till  by  death,  he  obtained  the  heavenly  liberty,  of 
which  neither  pope  nor  papist  shall  ever  deprive  him. 

He  remained  a  prisoner  some  time,  during  which,  preach- 
ing, reading  and  praying,  was  all  his  life. 

He  ate  only  one  meal  a  day,  which  was  but  very  little 
when  he  took  it,  and  his  continual  study  was  upon  his  knees. 

He  counted  that  hour  not  well  spent,  in  which  some  good 
was  not  accomplished,  either  with  his  pen,  study,  or  in  ex- 
horting others.  He  was  not  sparing  of  his  purse,  but  gave 
liberally  of  what  he  had  to  his  felloAv  prisoners. 

Such  confidence  was  reposed  in  him,  by  the  keeper,  and 
such  liberty  given  him,  that  there  was  no  day,  but  he  might 
have  escaped  easily,  had  he  been  so  disposed.  Upon  his 
promise  to  return  again  at  night,  he  was  permitted  to  go 
abroad  to  perform  his  gentle  ministrations  to  the  sick,  and 
so  fearful  was  he  of  breaking  his  promise,  and  being  found 
wanting  in  fidelity,  that  he  was  always  at  his  post  before  the 
time. 

One  of  his  old  friends  and  acquaintances  came  unto  him, 
while  he  was  a  prisoner,  and  asked  him,  if  he  sued  to  get 
him  out,  what  he  would  do,  or  whither  he  would  go  ?  He 
made  answer  as  caring  little  whether  he  went  or  not ;  but, 
if  he  did,  he  would  still  proclaim  the  gospel  as  time  and 
opportunity  were  given  him. 


'M^> 


JOHN    BRADFORD.  589 

In  his  retirement  he  wrote  many  letters  to  his  friends, 
breathing  the  spirit  of  christian  submission,  and  showing  the 
power  of  fliith  in  enabling  one  to  rise  superior  to  the  world. 
By  his  godly  discourses  and  holy  efforts  he  was  successful  in 
leading  some  to  embrace  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  this,  to  him, 
was  a  sufficient  reward  for  his  own  privation  and  suffering. 

While,  walking  with  a  friend  one  afternoon,  he  was  suddenly 
accosted  by  the  wife  of  the  keeper,  on  Avhose  countenance 
terror  was  plainly  visible,  and  informed  him  that  plans  were 
even  then  in  operation  for  the  termination  of  his  life  on  the 
next  day.  With  that  Bradford  lifted  his  eyes  to  heaven  and 
said,  "  I  thank  God  for  it ;  I  have  looked  for  the  same  a  long 
time,  and,  therefore,  it  cometh  not  suddenly,  but  as  a  thing 
waited  for  every  day  and  every  hour  ;  the  Lord  make  me 
worthy  thereof." 

Thanking  her  for  her  kindness,  he  departed  to  his  chamber, 
where  he  continued  in  secret  prayer  for  some  time,  and  after- 
ward admitted  his  friends,  with  whom  he  had  pleasant  and 
holy  converse. 

About  midnight  he  was  carried  to  Newgate,  when  it  was 
thought  none  would  be  stirring  abroad  ;  but,  contrary  to  their 
expectation,  a  multitude  were  assembled  to  see  him  and  bid 
him  farewell. 

He  was  held  in  such  reverence  and  admiration  that  many 
who  never  knew  him  but  by  fame,  greatly  lamented  that  he 
must  die ;  and  even  the  papists  themselves  heartily  wished 
his  life. 

But  tl^e  time  of  his  determined  death  was  come.  During 
a  long  examination  which  was  held  by  his  enemies,  he  re- 
mained true  in  his  adherence  to  the  gospel,  and  earnestly  ex- 
horted the  people  to  repent  and  return  to  Christ.  This  was 
sufficient  to  excite  the  malice  of  those  whose  hearts  were 
never  moved  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  he  was  carried  from 
Newgate  to  Smithfield,  surrounded  by  a  guard  of  men. 

As  he  neared  the  stake  at  which  he  was  to  be  burned,  he 
held  up  his  hands,  and  lifted  his  eyes  to  heaven,  and  said,  "  O, 
England,  England!  repent  of  thy  sins;  beware  of  idolatry^ 
beware  of  Antichrist ;  take  heed  they  do  not  deceive  you." 


590  RIDLEY. 

This  called  forth  a  rebuke  from  the  sheriff,  who  ordered  the 
work  to  be  hastened,  whereupon  he  was  bound  to  the  stake. 
Turning  to  one  who  suffered  with  him,  he  bade  him  be  of 
good  cheer  ;  "  foi-,"  said  he,  "  we  shall  sup  with  the  Lord  to- 
night ;"  and  then,  embracing  the  reeds,  he  said,  "  Strait  is  the 
gate  and  narrow  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  eternal  life,  and 
few  there  be  that  find  it." 

Thus  he  ended  this  mortal  life  ;  triumphed  over  every  foe, 
through  the  abundant  grace  vouchsafed  him  by  Almighty 
God  ;  and  thus  entered  upon  a  more  glorious  existence,  even 
an  eternal,  an  heavenly. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

CIRCUMSTANCES  OF  THEIR  COXYEESION ;  PECULIAR  DEVOTION  TO  RELIGIOUS 

DUTY;  THROWN  INTO  PRISON  TOGETHER;  EXPIRE  IN 

THE  FLAIIES  SIDE  BY  SIDE. 

IHESE  men  are  so  identified  with  each  other,  the 
history  of  their  lives  is  so  closely  intermingled, 
and  the  time  and  manner  of  their  death  being  the 
same,  it  seems  better,  in  the  contemplation  of 
them,  not  to  separate  their  names. 
They  were  pillars  in  the  church  of  Christ,  fearl^sly  de- 
fending the  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  They  were  men  ever 
memorable  for  their  piety,  learning  and  incomparable  orna- 
ments and  gifts  of  grace,  joined  with  commendable  sincerity 
of  life,  and  fervent  devotion  to  the  cause  of  truth. 

Doubtless  their  names  are  written  in  the  "  Lamb's  book  of 
life,"  with  the  blessed  saints  of  the  Most  High,  while  they 
stand  crowned  and  enthroned  among  the  glorious  company 
of  martyrs. 

Ridley  was  born  in  the  county  of  Northumberland,  and, 
in  his  early  years,  was  a  child  of  uncommon  promise.     His 


RIDLEY.  591 

easy  and  rapid  attainment  at  Newcastle  procured  for  him  an 
early  entrance  into  the  university  of  Cambridge,  where  he  in 
a  short  time  became  so  distinguished  for  his  acquirements  and 
singular  aptness  that  he  was  promoted  to  high  offices,  and 
finally  called  to  be  head  of  Pembroke  Hall,  and  there  made 
doctor  of  divinity. 

After  this,  departing  from  thence,  he  traveled  into  Paris, 
and  at  his  return  was  made  chaplain  to  Hemy  the  Eighth, 
and  afterward  promoted  by  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Roches- 
ter, and  from  thence  translated  to  the  see  and  bishopric  of 
London,  in  king  Edward's  days. 

In  this  calling  he  applied  himself  diligently  to  teaching  and 
preaching  the  pure  and  holy  doctrines  of  Christ ;  and  he  ^d 
it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  secure  willing  hearers,  and  call  forth 
the  ardent  attachment  of  the  people  for  himself.  Every 
holiday  and  every  Sabbath  he  preached  in  some  place,  intent 
upon  doing  his  Master's  will,  and  leading  some  perishing 
souls  to  embrace  the  great  salvation ;  and,  to  give  an  idea  of 
his  power,  we  give  the  figures  of  an  English  writer,  who,  in 
describing  him,  says  :  "  The  people  resorted  to  his  sermons, 
swarming  about  him  like  bees,  coveting  the  sweet  flowers  and 
wholesome  juice  of  the  fruitful  doctrine,  Avhich  he  did  not 
only  preach,  but  shewed  the  same  by  his  life,  as  a  glittering 
lanthorn  to  the  eyes  and  senses  of  the  blind,  in  such  purity 
of  life,  that  even  his  very  enemies  could  not  reprove  him  in 
any  one  thing."  Besides  he  was  learned,  his  memory  was 
remarkably  retentive,  and  his  reading  so  extensive  that,  of 
right,  he  deserved  to  be  compared  to  the  best  men  of  the  age, 
as  his  works,  sermons,  and  sundry  disputations  in  the  univer- 
sities can  sufficiently  testify. 

He  was  also  wise  of  counsel,  deep  of  wit,  and  very  politic 
in  all  his  doings.  He  sought  to  win  all  to  the  truth  by  his 
gentleness,  and  his  attempts  to  induce  the  papists  to  turn  from 
their  erroneous  opinions  were  always  characterized  by  the 
same  spirit  of  mild  forbearance.  An  instance  of  the  rare 
clemency  of  his  nature  is  seen  in  the  regard  which  he  mani- 
fested for  Mrs,  Bonner,  mother  of  the  cruel  bishop  of  that 
name,  who  lived  very  near  him.     He  was  in  the  habit  of 


592  RIDLEY. 

sending  for  her  to  take  dinner  and  supper  with  him,  saying 
to  the  servant,  "  Go  for  ray  mother  Bonner ;"  and,  upon  her 
arrival,  greeted  her  with  a  cordial  welcome,  giving  her  the 
seat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  never  displacing  her  for  the 
most  lordly  company,  being  wont  to  say,  "  By  your  lordship's 
favor,  this  place,  of  right  and  custom,  is  for  my  mother  Bon- 
ner." How  he  was  recompensed  for  this  singular  kindness 
is  seen  in  the  story  of  his  wrongs  and  persecution. 

Ridley's  self-training  is  particularly  noticeable,  and  shoAvs 
little  indulgence  to  his  natural  propensities  and  appetites.  He 
used  all  kinds  of  methods  to  mortify  himself,  and  was  much  giv- 
en to  prayer  and  contemplation.  A  little  time  he  allowed  every 
da^  for  recreation,  but  most  of  it,  from  early  in  the  morning, 
till  eleven  at  night  was  spent  in  study  of  the  Scriptures,  com- 
munion with  God,  and  pious  labors  for  the  benefit  of  others. 

From  the  time  he  had  been  thoroughly  won  and  brought 
to  the  true  way  he  was  as  constant  and  faithful  in  christian 
effort  as  he  had  before  been  blind  and  zealous  in  his  ignorant 
rejection.  His  attention  was  first  particularly  excited  by 
reading  Bertram's  book  of  the  sacrament,  and  his  views 
afterward  confirmed  by  a  conference  with  archbishop  Cran- 
mer  and  Peter  Martyr. 

He  was  indefatigable  in  his  attempts  to  support  the  happi- 
ness and  peace  of  the  church  till  the  death  of  king  Edward, 
when  the  whole  state  of  the  church  in  England  was  left  des- 
olate, and  open  to  the  enemy's  hands. 

After  the  accession  of  queen  IMary  to  the  throne,  it  is  not 
surprising  to  hear  of  his  persecution,  for  the  heart  of  the 
proud  queen  had  no  sympathy  with  the  pure,  self-denying 
precepts  of  the  Saviour's  gospel,  and  their  zealous,  able  advo- 
cates could  expect  no  mercy  at  her  hands. 

Ridley  was  one  of  the  first  she  sought  to  silence ;  and,  for 
this  purpose,  he  was  committed  to  prison,  first  in  the  Tower, 
and  afterward  with  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  inclosed  in 
the  common  prison  of  Boccardo. 

At  length,  being  separated,  he  was  committed  to  custody 
in  the  house  of  one  Irish,  where  he  remained  till  the  day  of 
his  martyrdom,  which  was  from  155-1:  till  October  16th,  1555. 


LATIMER. 


69^ 


He  "Was  the  companion  of  Latimer  as  they  went  to  the  stake ; 
and  they  passed  to  the  glories  of  heaven  together,  through 
the  same  fire. 

We  defer  an  account  of  this,  to  give  a  brief  sketch  of  the 
life  of  Hugh  Latimer,  who  was  a  discipHned  soldier  of  Christ, 
and  a  valiant  champion  for  the  truth. 

He  was  the  son  of  one  by  the  same  name,  who  lived  in 
Thirkesson,  in  the  county  of  Leicester,  a  husbandman  in  good 
repute,  with  whom  he  was  brought  up  till  he  was  about  four 
years  old.  At  this  early  age,  his  parents  discovered  evidence 
of  uncommon  intellectual  ability,  and  formed  a  purpose  to 
tf-ain  him  up  in  erudition,  and  give  him  a  knowledge  of  litera- 
ture in  general,  which  purpose  they  immediately  put  in  exe- 
cution. He  was  placed  at  school  in  the  vicinity,  where  his 
improvement  was  so  marked  that,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  he 
was  prepared  to  enter  the  university  at  Cambridge,  where  he 
gave  himself  up  to  the  study  of  such  divinity  as  the  ignorance 
of  that  age  would  suffer. 

He  was  then  zealous  in  the  popish  religion,  and  so  scrupu- 
lous, as  he  himself  confessed,  that  he  thought  he  should  not 
be  lost  if  he  only  were  a  professed  friar,  and  a  servile  observer 
of  the  Komish  decrees,  diligently  saying  mass.  Li  this  blind 
zeal  he  was  a  decided  opposer  to  the  professors  of  Christ's 
gospel,  and  he  made  an  oration  against  Melancthon,  in  which 
he  displayed  the  bitter  opposition  of  his  heart.  He  used  his 
efforts  to  persuade  the  youth  of  the  university  to  disregard 
the  teachings  of  the  pious  man  who  discoursed  to  them  upon 
the  true  divinity. 

But,  God  had  a  work  for  this  man  to  do,  and  his  merciful 
purpose  was  to  be  accomplished  speedilv. 

Thomas  Bilney,  being  at  that  time  a  trier  of  Satan's  subtil- 
ties,  and  a  secret  overturner  of  Antiolirist's  kingdom,  seeing 
Latimer  to  have  a  zeal  in  his  v/ay,  but  not  according  to 
knowledge,  ardently  desired  that  he  might  become  a  convert 
to  the  true  religion,  and  began  to  consider  by  what  means  he 
might  win  this  zealous,  ignorant  brother  to  the  true  knowl- 
edge of  Christ.  He  went  to  Latimer's  study,  and,  in  a  familiar, 
earnest  manner,  unfolded  the  great  truths  of  revelation  in 

3S 


594  LAT13IER. 

such  a  liglit  that  the  mind  of  the  popish  devotee  conceived  a 
desire  to  become  illuminated  with  the  blessed  rays  which  pro- 
ceed from  the  infinite  source  of  blessedness. 

He  immediately  forsook  the  superstitious  fantasies  of  pope- 
ly,  and  became  an  earnest  student  in  divinity,  an  humble 
learner  at  the  foot  of  the  cross.  His  cavilinsr  was  chansred 
into  pleasant  conference  with  those  faithful  ministers  he  had, 
a  short  time  before,  derided ;  and  his  whole  manner  of  life 
became  different.  Having  himself  drank  at  the  fountain  of 
living  waters,  and  found  his  own  thirst  quenched,  like  a  true 
disciple  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  he  pitied  the  misery  of  others, 
and  longed  to  bring  them  to  the  sacred  stream.  He  not  only 
became  a  public  instructor,  but  a  private  tutor  to  the  rest  of 
his  brethren  in  the  university,  and,  for  the  space  of  three 
years,  spent  his  time  partly  in  the  Latin  tongue  among  the 
learned,  and  partly  among  the  simple  people  in  his  natural 
and  vulgar  language. 

But  Satan  never  sleepeth  when  he  sees  his  kingdom  begin 
to  decay ;  so,  now,  perceiving  this  worthy  member  of  Christ 
would  do  much  toward  destroying  its  foundations,  found 
means  greatly  to  disturb  and  molest  him. 

An  Augustine  friar,  blindly  yet  zealously  favoring  all  the 
delusions  of  popery,  was  troubled  at  the  success  of  Latimer's 
practical  preaching  and  feared  the  result  upon  his  own  party. 
He  took  occasion  from  his  sermons  to  bring  an  accusation 
against  him,  which,  for  a  time,  interrupted  the  good  man  in 
hiawork,  though,  by  no  means,  disheartening  him,  for  his 
soul  was  stayed  on  a  foundation  which  the  combined  forces 
of  the  adversary  could  not  move.  Notwithstanding  the 
malice  of  his  enemies,  he  still  persevered  in  proclaiming  "the 
gospel's  joyful  sound,"  wdth  the  favor  of  the  godly,  and,  at 
times,  even  his  persecutors  were  constrained  to  commend 
his  gift. 

He  continued  in  close  intimacy  with  Mr.  Bilney,  and  they 
so  frequently  conferred  together  that  the  field  in  which  they 
usually  walked  was,  for  a  long  time  after,  called,  "  The  here- 
tic's hill."  Together  they  visited  the  poor  and  the  sick,  and 
told  them  of   the  plan  of  redemption    through  a  crucified 


LATIMER. 


595 


Eedeemer  ;  but  these  works  of  benevolence  were  interrupted 
by  Latimer  being  called  before  the  cardinal  for  heresy. 

He  was,  however,  discharged  at  this  time,  and  resumed 
again  his  wonted  employment ;  but,  he  was  allowed  to  pursue 
it  iDcaceably  but  a  short  time,  for,  on  very  brief  notice,  he  was 
summoned  to  Smithfield,  whither  he  was  conducted  by  an 
officer.  He  was  brought  before  the  council,  patiently  bearing 
all  the  mocks  and  taunts  given  him  by  the  scornful  papists, 
was  condemned,  and  sent  to  the  Tower,  Avhere,  being  assisted 
with  the  heavenly  grace  of  Christ,  he  endured  imprisonment 
a  long  time.  So  abundantly  was  he  sustained  by  the  Lord, 
that  he  Avas  able  not  only  to  despise  the  terribleness  of  prisons 
and  torments,  but  also  to  deride  and  laugh  to  scorn  even  the 
cruel  proceedings  of  his  enemies.  He  was  very  cheerful,  and 
of  a  somewhat  merry  turn  of  mind,  which  manifested  itself 
in  his  solitary  confinement.  Upon  a  certain  occasion,  when 
the  lieutenant's  man  came  to  him  and  found  him  without  fire 
in  the  frosty  winter,  and  well  nigh  perishing  with  cold  and  ' 
hunger,  he  bade  the  man  tell  his  master,  "That  if  he  did  not 
look  better  after  him  he  might,  perhaps,  deceive  him."  This 
remark  was  conveyed  to  the  proper  authority,  whereupon  an 
explanation  was  demanded  of  the  strange  speech.  "  I  sup- 
pose," said  Latimer,  "  you  expect  that  I  should  burn ;  but, 
unless  you  let  me  have  some  fire,  I  am  like  to  deceive  your 
expectations,  for  I  am  like  to  perish  with  cold." 

From  the  Tower  he  was  sent  to  Oxford,  where  he  met 
Ptidley,  with  whom  he  was  examined,  and  again  had  the 
sentence  of  condemnation  passed  upon  him. 

They  were  together  remanded  to  prison,  where  they  con- 
tinued from  April  till  the  month  of  October,  spending  the 
time  in  brotherly  conference,  fervent  prayer,  and  fruitful 
writing. 

Latimer,  however,  wrote  least  of  all,  being  very  feeble,  and 
somewhat  oppressed  with  the  infirmities  of  age. 

As  autumn  drew  near,  with  its  fading,  dying  forms,  the 
time  of  the  execution  of  these  holy  men  arrived,  and  they 
were  led  to  the  spot  destined  to  be  honored  with  their  ashes. 

Their  tormentors,  doubtless,  thought  to  bury  with  them,  in 


596  LATIMER. 

a  measure,  the  truth  they  had  taught ;  but,  their  holy  triumph, 
in  the  last  agonies  of  dissolving  nature,  told  a  story  of  the 
mighty  power  of  religion  to  sustain  in  the  fearful  extremity 
with  more  force  than  their  words  ever  could  have  done. 

As  they  stood  side  by  side  at  the  stake,  the  pious  Ridley 
lifted  his  eyes  toward  heaven,  and  then,  with  audible  voice 
and  serene  countenance,  turned  to  his  companion  and  said, 
"  God  is  faithful,  and  will  not  suffer  us  to  be  tempted  above 
our  strength." 

"VVe  forbear  the  recital  of  their  severe  and  protracted  suffer- 
ings, preferring  rather  to  exalt  that  grace  which  so  abundantly 
sustained  them,  and  commend  that  principle  of  godliness 
which  death  itself  hath  not  power  to  move. 

They  knew  that  faithfulness  in  the  cause  of  Christ  would 
only  insure  for  them  the  flames  of  martyrdom,  but  these  they 
lightly  regarded,  feeling  that  the  sufferings  of  the  present 
time  were  not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that 
.should  be  revealed. 

The  scorching  fire  could  well  be  endured  for  a  little  time, 
yea,  even  welcomed,  when  it  opened  for  them  the  portals  of 
heaven,  and  displayed  the  glories  of  the  golden  city. 

Well  might  they  subject  their  bodies  to  their  merciless  foes, 
when  the  Lord  of  Glory  bent  down  from  his  throne  to  com- 
fort them,  and  stood  ready  to  receive  their  waiting  spirits  to 
his  blissful  presence,  forever  to  sing  the  triumphs  of  redeem- 
inar  love. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

CHRISTIANITY;  ITS  NATrKE,  DESIGN,  EFEECT  AND  EINAI  ACCOMPLISmiENT. 

T  IS  not  our  purpose  at  the  close  of  this  work  to 
present  an  argument  in  support  of  the  claims  of 
Christianity,  for  those  who  have  followed  the 
"  cloud  of  witnesses  "  as  they  have  moved  firmly 
and  steadily  on  through  successive  centuries,  ani- 
mated by  the  same  hopes,  impelled  by  the  same  motives,  and 
cheered  by  the  same  ultimate  good,  need  not  the  calculations 
of  reason  to  become  convinced  of  the  reality  of  the  christian 
religion,  and  its  demands  upon  them. 

It  may  be  Avell  for  us,  however,  to  take  a  brief  survey  of 
the  comprehensive  system  which  opens  to  us  through  the 
sublime  revelations  of  Christianity,  and  see  in  its  various  and 
attractive  charms,  its  beneficial  and  widely  extended  influ- 
ence, its  power  and  excellency,  how  unmistakeably  it  pro- 
claims itself  to  be  of  Divine  origin. 

It  is  the  grandest,  most  extensive,  and  deeply  interesting 
subject  that  can  engage  the  attention  of  man.  Its  peculiar 
doctrines  and  mysteries,  its  tenets  and  institutions,  are  such  as 
bear  the  very  "  foot-prints  of  Divinity."  Every  reason  exists 
why  it  should  commend  itself  to  the  favorable  regard,  and 
cordial  reception  of  all  classes,  in  every  condition  of  life. 
Sublime  in  the  antiquity  of  its  recollections,  which  go  back 
to  the  creation  of  the  world,  ineflTable  in  its  mysteries,  interest- 
ing in  its  history,  celestial  in  its  morahty,  attractive  in  its  cere- 
monies, it  is  fraught  with  every  species  of  beauty  and  interest. 
It  is  the  most  humane,  the  most  favorable  to  liberty,  and 
to  the  arts  and  sciences,  of  all  the  religions,  that  ever  existed. 
The  modern  world  is  indebted  to  it  for  every  improvement, 
from  agriculture  to  the  abstract  sciences,  from  the  hospitals 
for  the  reception  of  the  unfortunate,  to  the  temples  reared  by 
the  Michael  Angelos,  and  embellished  by  the  Raphaels.     It 

(■597) 


598  CHRISTIANITY. 

encourages  genius,  corrects  the  taste,  develops  the  virtuous 
passions,  imparts  energy  to  the  ideas,  presents  noble  images 
to  the  writer,  and  perfect  models  to  the  artist.  In  short,  it 
is  the  great  operative  and  diffusive  principle,  which  has  dis- 
pelled the  shades  of  darkness,  given  to  mankind  clear  and 
correct  views  of  the  Deity  and  His  works,  enlightened  and 
refined  every  thing  to  which  its  Divine  spirit  has  been  com- 
municated by  the  gracious  providence  of  the  Almighty, 
throughout  the  world.  It  is  an  emanation  from  the  source — 
the  only  source  of  truth,  beauty  and  perfection — nay  !  it  is  the 
very  manifestation  of  God  himself. 

Stupendous  wisdom  gave  birth  to  this  radiant  form  of 
Christianity,  and  imparted  its  distinguishing  characteristic — 
the  invariable  introduction  of  man  in  conjunction  with  God, 
whereas  the  false  religions  have  separated  the  Creator  from 
the  creature.  It  is  a  religion  of  two-fold  meaning,  making 
the  mysteries  of  the  Divinity,  and  the  mysteries  of  the  human 
heart,  go  hand  in  hand  ;  and  by  removing  the  veil  that 
covers  the  true  God,  it  also  exhibits  man  just  as  he  is. 

What  if  mystery  does  appear  in  this  depth  profound  ?  we 
must  not  be  astonished,  if  He,  who  causes  millions  of  worlds 
to  roll  without  confusion  over  our  heads,  has  indeed  infused 
delightful  harmony  into  the  principles  of  a  religion  instituted 
by  Himself,  though  we  fully  comprehend  it  not.  We  need 
not  be  astonished  at  His  making  the  charms  and  the  glories 
of  its  mysteries  revolve  in  the  circle  of  the  most  convincing 
logic,  as  He  has  commanded  those  worlds  to  revolve  in  their 
orbits,  to  bring  us  flowers  and  storms  in  their  respective 
seasons.  We  may  not  always  discern  the  order  and  beauty 
that  actually  is,  but  rather  let  us  consider  our  dull  percep- 
tions at  fault,  than  to  think  the  chain  of  infinite  results  is 
wanting  a  single  link. 

When  we  look  at  the  wonderful  character  of  the  great 
Author  of  Christianity,  we  not  only  have  an  idea  of  its  nature 
as  heavenly  and  forgiving,  but  also  see  the  infinite  superiority 
of  the  christian  religion  over  the  so-called  creations  of  men, 
AVe  see  one  of  obscure  parentage,  coming  from  an  obscure 
corner  of  Judea,  nursed  amid  sorrows  and  indigence,  and 


CHRISTIANITY.  599 

passing  through  the  successive  stages  of  infancy,  childhood 
and  youth,  and  at  last  selecting  a  band  of  disciples  from 
among  the  lowest  of  the  people  ;  preaching  nought  but  sacri- 
fices, nought  but  the  renunciation  of  earthly  pomp,  pleasure 
and  power ;  the  slave,  the  poor,  the  destitute — all  that 
moui-n,  all  that  are  afflicted,  .all  that  are  forsaken  by  the 
world,  are  His  delight ;  but  power,  wealth  and  prosperity, 
are  incessantly  threatened  by  Him.  He  institutes  new  rela- 
tions among  men,  a  new  law  of  nations,  a  new  public  faith ; 
He  thus  establishes  His  Divinity,  triumphs  over  the  religion 
of  the  Csesars,  seats  Himself  on  the  throne  with  them,  and  at 
length  subdues  the  earth.  He  appears  among  men  full  of 
grace  and  truth  ;  the  authority  and  the  mildness  of  His 
precepts  are  irresistible. 

His  bitterest  enemies  never  dared  to  attack  His  Divine 
person,  for  the  evidence  was  unquestionable  that  He  came 
from  above. 

Had  he  descended  from  His  celestial  abode  in  all  His 
power,  it  would  certainly  have  been  a  very  easy  task  to 
practice  so  many  virtues,  to  endure  so  many  afflictions  ;  but 
herein  lies  the  glory  of  the  mystery  ;  Christ  was  the  "  man 
of  sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief;"  His  heart  melted 
like  that  of  a  merely  human  creature,  and  He  never  mani- 
fested any  sign  of  anger,  except  against  insensibility  and 
obduracy  of  soul. 

He  appears  the  model  of  every  virtue.  Friendship  beholds 
Him  distinguishing  John  from  the  other  apostles,  or  be- 
queathing His  mother  to  his  care.  Mercy  admires  Him  in 
the  judgment  of  the  sinful  daughter  of  crime.  Pity  every 
where  finds  Him  blessing  the  tears  of  the  unfortunate  ;  His 
innocence  and  His  tenderness  are  displayed  in  His  love  of 
children ;  the  energy  of  His  soul  shines  conspicuous  amid 
the  torments  of  the  cross,  and  His  last  sigh  is  a  sigh  of 
compassion. 

If  the  purest  morality  and  the  most  feeling  heart ;  if  a 
life  passed  in  combating  error  and  vice,  and  soothing  the 
sorrows  of  mankind,  be  attributes  of  Divinity,  who  can  deny 
that  of  Christ  ? 


600  CHRISTIANITY. 

There  are  no  philosophers  of  antiquity  but  have  been  re- 
proached with  some  vices  ;  the  very  patriarchs  had  their 
foibles  ;  Christ  alone  is  without  blemish  ;  He  is  the  most 
brilliant  copy  of  that  Supreme  beauty  which  is  seated  upon 
the  throne  of  heaven.  Pure  and  sanctified  as  the  tabernacle 
of  the  Lord ;  breathing  nought  but  the  love  of  God  and  men ; 
infinitely  superior,  by  the  elevation  of  his  soul,  above  the 
vain-glory  of  the  world,  he  prosecuted,  amid  sufferings  of 
every  kind,  the  important  business  of  our  salvation,  con- 
straining men,  by  the  ascendency  of  His  virtues,  to  embrace 
His  doctrine,  and  to  intimate  a  life  which  they  were  compelled 
to  admire. 

If  the  whole  world  were  to  raise  its  voice  against  Christ ; 
if  all  the  powers  of  philosophy  were  to  combine  against  His 
doctrines,  never  can  we  be  persuaded  that  a  religion  erected 
on  such  a  foundation  is  a  religion  of  human  origin.  He  who 
could  obtain  adoration  for  a  cross  ;  He  who  held  up' suffering 
humanity  and  persecuted  virtue  as  an  object  of  veneration  to 
mankind  ;  He,  we  insist,  can  be  none  other  than  God,  and  as 
such.  His  teachings  are  entitled  to  universal  esteem, — His 
religion  to  universal  sway. 

None  but  Christ  could  teach  the  world  that  faith,  hope  and 
charity,  are  the  virtues  alike  adapted  to  the  ignorance  and  the 
Avants  of  man.  From  the  moment  He  came  into  the  world, 
and  declared  His  kingdom  of  righteousness,  an  admirable 
balance,  between  strength  and  weakness,  was  established. 
Eeligion  hurled  all  her  thunderbolts  at  pride,  that  vice  which 
feeds  upon  the  virtues  ;  she  detected  it  in  the  inmost  recesses 
of  the  heart ;  she  pursued  it  in  all  its  changes  ;  and  Humility, 
clothed  in  sackcloth,  Avith  tearful  eye  and  modest  bearing, 
became  one  of  the  primary  virtues  of  the  believer  ;  while 
Faith,  to  new  created  vision  discovered  the  true  empire  of 
actual  existence,  and  the  benefit  of  a  redeemed  inheritance. 

HoAV  great  the  advantage  which  the  christian  religion  has 
over  the  religions  of  antiquity !  Such  is  the  nature  of  man, 
that  some  form  of  belief,  relative  to  his  origin  and  destiny, 
life  and  death,  are  essential  to  him. 

Blinded  to  a  more  spiritual  service,  vai'ious  have  been  the 


CRRISTIANITY.  601 

schemes  whicli  his  ingenuity  has  wrought  out ;  but  their 
boasted  mysteries  have  often  had  no  affinity  to  man,  and 
afforded,  at  the  utmost,  but  a  subject  for  reflection  to  the 
philosopher,  or  of  song  to  the  poet.  On  the  contrary,  the 
mysteries  of  the  christian  religion  speak  directly  to  the 
heart ;  they  comprehend  the  secrets  of  existence. 

Here  is  no  question  concerning  a  futile  arrangement  of 
numbers,  no  absurd  theories  of  mystical  superstition,  but  a 
plan  executed  confessedly  for  the  salvation  and  felicity  of 
the  human  race. 

The  Greeks  and  Romans,  looking  scarcely  any  farther 
than  the  present  life,  and  having  no  conception  of  pleasures 
more  perfect  than  those  which  this  world  afibrds,  placed  the 
heaven  of  their  imagination  in  a  round  of  sensual  gratifica- 
tion and  unrestrained  excesses. 

No  genial  spirit  of  Christianity  poured  upon  them  its 
cheering  rays  in  the  days  of  darkness  and  gloom. 

Moral  benefit  was  out  of  the  question,  and  the  miserable 
inflictions  substituted  for  holy  self-denial,  was  a  poor  apolo- 
gy for  the  peaceful  rewards  of  the  heaven-descended  revela- 
tion, which  Jesus  proclaimed  upon  earth. 

They  were  circumscribed  on  all  sides  by  multitudes  of 
absurd  deities,  and  the  gift  of  prophecy  and  wisdom,  of 
mystery  and  religion,  they  planted  in  the  dark  recesses  of 
boundless  forests,  fixing  there  their  eternal  abode. 

They  peopled  the  universe  with  elegant  phantoms,  and 
banished  from  the  creation  its  solemnity,  its  grandeur  and  its 
solitude.  It  was  necessary  that  Christianity  should  expel  the 
whole  host  of  these,  and  restore  to  the  grottoes  their  silence, 
and  to  the  woods  their  scope  for  uninterrupted  contempla- 
tion. Under  our  religion  the  deserts  have  assumed  a  more 
sublime  and  agreeable  character,  and  the  true  God  in  re- 
turning to  His  works,  hath  imparted  His  immensity  to  nature. 

It  is  under  the  christian  dispensation  alone,  that  nature 
has  been  delineated  with  truth,  and  here  only  is  seen  that 
admirable  and  perfect  conjunction  of  truth  and  grace,  which 
shine  so  preeminently  in  the  gospel  system. 

Another   prime   characteristic   of   Christianity  is,  that  in 


602  CHRISTIANITY. 

sight  of  the  tomb,  the  judgment,  and  the  eternal  future,  it 
displays  all  its  sublimity.  While  the  ancient  religions  con- 
secrated the  ashes  of  the  dead,  none  of  them  ever  thought 
of  preparing  the  soul  for  that  "  undiscovered  country  from 
whose  bourn  no  traveler  returns."  The  sublime  scene  which 
all  antiquity  exhibited  but  once  in  the  greatest  of  its  dying 
philosophers,  is  daily  renewed  on  the  humble  pallet  of  the 
meanest  christian  who  expires. 

Luminous  indeed  is  the  pathway  of  the  christian,  and  in 
striking  contrast  is  the  dark,  cheerless  road,  trod  by  the  de- 
luded votaries  of  a  false  religion. 

Christianity  also  shines  with  peculiar  luster,  when  com- 
pared with  a  system  of  mere  worldly  philosophy. 

Philosophy  has  been  called  a  "  goddess,"  with  head  in 
heaven  and  feet  upon  earth ;  but  whatever  may  be  said  of 
her,  she  attempts  more  than  she  accomplishes,  and  promises 
more  than  she  performs.  She  may  teach  us  to  hear  of  the 
calamities  of  others  with  magnanimity ,  but  it  is  religion 
alone  that  can  teach  us  to  bear  our  own  with  resignation. 

With  her  humbler  but  steadier  comrade,  religion,  philoso- 
phy may  open  new  and  desirable  fields  of  investigation,  and 
afford  to  the  explorer  much  that  is  worthy,  much  that  will 
minister  to  his  comfort  and  improvement. 

There  is  only  one  way  in  which  philosophy  can  become 
popular  ;  that  which  Socrates  tried,  and  which  centuries  after 
was  perfected  in  the  gospel ;  that  which  tells  men  of  their 
Divine  origin  and  destiny,  of  their  heavenly  duties  and  call- 
ing. This  comes  home  to  men's  hearts  and  bosoms,  and,  in- 
stead of  puffing  them  up,  humbles  them.  But  to  be  efficient, 
this  should  flow  down  straight  from  a  higher  sphere.  Even 
in  its  Socratic  form,  it  was  supported  by  those  higher  princi- 
ples, which  we  find  set  forth  with  such  power  and  beauty  by 
Plato.  In  christian  philosophy,  on  the  other  hand,  the  lad- 
der has  come  down  from  heaven,  and  the  angels  are  contin- 
ually descending  and  ascending  along  it. 

Stoic  philosophers  have  boastingly  nerved  themselves  to 
meet  unmoved  the  ills  and  the  sorrows  of  their  mortal  exist- 
ence, and  at  last  have  been  intercepted  by  the  king  of  terrors. 


CHRISTIANITY.  603 

in  reckless  uncertainty  of  their  fate  ;  but  not  to  a  life  or 
death  like  this  is  Christianity  born  to  lead. 

It  has  a  holier,  a  more  perfect  design. 

Framed  for  our  afflictions  and  our  wants,  it  incessantly  ex- 
hibits to  our  view  the  two-fold  picture  of  terrestrial  griefs 
and  heavenly  joys,  and  thus  creates  in  the  heart  those  hopes 
and  aspirations,  which  are  the  peculiar  possession  of  every 
true  believer. 

The  prime  object,  the  great  design  of  the  christian  reli- 
gion, is  to  bring  immortality  to  light,  by  removing  the  veil 
of  impenetrable  darkness  and  delusion  from  the  earth,  and 
to  elevate  a  sinful  race  to  holiness,  happiness,  and  heaven. 
Its  glorious  mission  is  one  of  love,  peace  and  joy,  and  comes 
to  us  stamped  with  the  sacred  seal  of  Divinity,  with  an  au- 
thority that  can  not  be  questioned,  a  power  that  can  not  be 
resisted. 

It  is  something  wrought  out  with  more  than  angelic  skill, 
for  those  beings  who  veil  their  faces  before  the  Eternal 
throne,  desire  to  look  into  the  glorious  scheme,  but  are  never 
permitted  to  know  even  the  notes  of  the  song  of  redemp- 
tion. They  are  reserved  for  fallen  recovered  man  to  chant 
with  wondrous  melody,  and  those  who  join  in  the  chorus 
are  those  whose  hearts  and  voices  have  been  attuned  by  the 
ffuidins:  Master  of  heaven. 

A  glance  at  the  gracious,  benevolent  designs  of  the  Divine 
Author  of  Christianity,  is  enough  to  afford  convincing  proof 
of  its  superior  and  heavenly  origin. 

To  promote  the  happiness  of  His  people,  every  thing  is 
done  that  is  requisite  ;  His  grace  is  all-sufficient ;  His  spirit 
able  to  conduct  to  regions  of  never  fading  bliss. 

It  is  this  particular  which  renders  the  christian  religion 
delightful ;  its  leading  to  the  perfect,  eternal  life  of  heaven. 
It  can  not  be  denied  but  that  we  may  draw  from  the  light  of 
reason  strong  presumptions  of  a  future  state.  The  present 
existence  does  not  look  like  the  infancy  of  human  nature, 
which  is  capable  of  arriving  at  a  much  higher  degree  by  ma- 
turity ;  but  whatever  solid  foundation  the  doctrine  of  a  future 
state  may  have  in  nature  and  reason,  certain  it  is  before  the 


604  CHRISTIANITY. 

coming  of  Christ,  this  doctrine  was  very  much  disfigured, 
and  in  a  great  measure  lost  among  the  sons  of  men. 

The  gospel  sets  the  matter  forever  at  rest. 

Here  we  are  assured  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  in  a 
glorious  form,  clothed  with  immortal  vigor,  suited  to  the 
active  nature  of  the  animating  spirit,  and  assisting  its  most 
enlarged  operations  and  incessant  progress  toward  perfec- 
tion. Here  we  are  assured  that  the  righteous  shall  go  into 
life  everlasting ;  that  they  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
the  heavenly  Canaan,  where  no  ignorance  shall  cloud  the 
understanding,  no  vice  disturb  the  will.  In  those  regions 
of  perfection,  nothing  but  love  and  unmingled  felicity  pos- 
sess the  soul,  nothing  but  gratitude  employ  the  tongue,  and 
the  plenitude  of  celestial  happiness  which  Christianity  prom- 
ises to  the  holy  of  heart,  will  be  forever  enjoyed. 

There  they  shall  see  their  exalted  Redeemer  at  the  right 
hand  of  Omnipotence,  and  sit  down  with  Him  on  His  throne  ; 
there  they  shall  be  admitted  into  the  immediate  presence  of 
the  Supreme  Fountain  of  life  and  happiness,  and,  beholding 
His  face,  be  further  changed  into  the  same  image,  from  glory 
to  glory.  It  would  require  the  genius,  the  knowledge,  and 
the  pen  of  an  angel,  to  paint  the  happiness,  the  blissful 
scene  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  which  human  eyes  can  not  be- 
hold till  this  mortal  body  shall  be  purified  from  its  corrup- 
tion, and  dressed  in  the  robes  of  immortality. 

To  fit  for  such  a  place,  for  such  enjoyments,  is  the  gracious 
design  of  our  holy  religion. 

Its  power  to  do  this  its  course  fully  demonstrates. 

Its  effect  upon  society  and  the  world  is  truly  wonderful. 
Since  its  introduction,  human  nature  has  made  great  progress, 
and  society  experienced  great  changes  ;  and  in  this  advanced 
condition  of  the  world,  instead  of  losing  its  application  and 
importance,  it  is  found  to  be  more  and  more  congenial  and 
adapted  to  man's  nature  and  wants.  Men  have  outgrown  the 
other  institutions  of  that  period  when  Christianity  appeared — 
its  philosophy,  its  modes  of  Avarfare,  its  policy,  its  public  and 
private  economy  ;  but  Christianity  has  never  shrunk  as  intel- 
lect has  opened,  but  has  always  kept  in  advance  of  man's 


CHRISTIANITY.  605 

faculties,  and  unfolded  nobler  views  in  proportion  as  they 
have  ascended.  The  highest  powers  and  affections  which 
our  nature  has  developed,  find  more  than  adequate  objects 
in  this  religion.  "  It  is  a  necessary  and  indispensable 
element  in  any  great  human  character,"  said  Webster,  the 
lamented  statesman.  "  It  is  the  tie  that  connects  man  with 
his  Creator,  and  holds  him  to  His  throne.  If  that  tie  be  all 
sundered,  all  broken,  he  floats  away,  a  worthless  atom  in  the 
universe  ;  its  proper  attractions  all  gone,  its  destiny  thwarted, 
and  its  whole  future  nothing  but  darkness,  desolation  and 
death." 

It  is  highly  probable,  that,  but  for  Christianity,  the  wreck 
of  society  and  learning  would  have  been  complete. 

It  is  impossible  to  calculate  how  many  ages  mankind  would 
have  taken  to  emerge  from  the  ignorance  and  gross  barbarism 
in  which  it  would  have  been  ingulfed.  It  required  nothing 
less  than  an  immense  body  of  recluses,  scattered  over  three- 
quarters  of  the  globe,  and  laboring  in  concert  for  the  promotion 
of  the  same  object,  to  preserve  those  sparks  which  have  re- 
kindled the  torch  of  science  among  the  moderns. 

No  order  of  paganism,  either  political,  philosophical,  or 
religious,  could  have  rendered  this  inestimable  service  in  the 
absence  of  Christianity ;  and  we  must  come  to  the  conclusion, 
under  every  imaginable  hypothesis  that  the  gospel  has  pre- 
vented the  destruction  of  society,  for  religion  alone  can  renew 
a  nation  in  its  sources. 

To  judge  of  the  genius  of  a  nation  the  genuine  philosopher 
does  not  merely  seek  to  discover  a  few  great  men  here  and 
there ;  he  examines  whether  the  current  of  general  ideas  has 
taken  another  direction,  and  if  human  nature,  in  a  mass,  has 
acquired  sounder  notions  of  justice  and  humanity.  Now, 
Christianity  has  indubitably  imparted  these  new  ideas ;  it  is 
the  religion  that  is  adapted  to  a  nation,  matured  by  time  ;  it 
is,  if  we  may  so  speak,  the  religion  congenial  to  the  present 
age  of  the  world,  as  the  reign  of  types  and  emblems  was 
suited  to  the  cradle  of  Israel.  Its  truths,  so  far  from  requir- 
ing the  submission  of  reason,  command,  on  the  contrary,  the 
most  sublime  exercise  of  that  faculty. 


606  CHRISTIANITY. 

Wherever  Christianity  has  gone  she  has  carried  civilization 
with  her.  She  has  rescued  the  people  from  a  state  of  hope- 
less barbarism,  and  elevated  them  to  refinement,  intelligence 
and  happiness. 

Literature,  too,  has  been  baptized  with  her  holy  influence, 
and  the  turbid  stream  of  fabled  mythology,  which  once  sent 
forth  its  deleterious  waters,  has  become  clearer  and  sweeter 
under  the  purifying  process. 

The  intellectual  part  of  man  has  been  enlarged  and  refreshed, 
and  mind  assumed  something  of  its  royal  dignity.  Every 
department  of  learning  has  been  hallowed  by  men  of  sancti- 
fied genius.  Numberless  instances  come  to  the  support  of 
principles  ;  and,  a  religion  which  can  claim  a  Bacon,  a  Newton, 
a  Boyle,  a  Clarke,  a  Pascal,  beside  a  host  of  others,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  lathers  of  the  church,  and  the  band  of 
christian  orators,  such  a  religion,  we  say,  may  boast  of  being 
favorable  to  philosophy.  It  shines  eminently  conspicuous  in 
the  genius  of  history,  for  he,  in  fact,  will  be  most  intimately 
acquainted  with  man  who  has  long  meditated  on  the  designs 
of  Providence  ;  he  will  be  best  able  to  fathom  human  wis- 
dom who  has  penetrated  into  the  depths  of  the  Divine 
intelligence. 

The  designs  of  kings  ;  the  vices  of  cities  ;  the  unjust  and 
crooked  measures  of  policy  ;  the  restlessness  of  the  heart,  from 
the  secret  working  of  the  passions  ;  those  long  agitations  with 
which  nations  are  at  times  seized ;  those  changes  of  power, 
from  the  king  to  the  subject,  from  the  noble  to  the  plebeian, 
from  the  rich  to  the  poor ;  all  these  springs  will  be  inexplica- 
ble, unless  one  have,  as  it  were,  attended  the  council  of  the 
Most  High,  with  those  various  spirits  of  strength,  of  prudence, 
of  weakness,  and  of  error,  which  he  dispenses  to  the  nations 
whose  salvation  or  whose  ruin  he  decrees. 

Such  a  combination  of  things  seems  to  have  no  natural 
principle  in  human  events.  The  religious  writer  alone  can 
here  discover  the  profound  counsels  of  the  Most  High,  and 
find  the  explanation  of  the  almost  Incomprehensible  facts  of 
history. 

The  desert  places  of  the  earth  have.  Indeed,  bloomed  with 


CHRISTIANITY 


60T 


new  beauty  and  freshness,  under  this  fostering  care,  and  we 
enjoy  the  effects  of  the  blessing  every  day  and  hour  of  our 
lives,  and  taste  its  heaven-descended  waters  as  they  come  con- 
veyed to  us  through  innumerable  channels. 

Excellent  institutions  have  risen  up,  upon  which  religion 
has  stamped  her  own  image,  and  consecrated  them  to  her 
service ;  and  thus  we  might  go  on,  and  jDortray  its  genial 
influence  upon  the  institutions  that  uphold,  the  manners  that 
improve,  or  the  arts  that  adorn  the  state  of  civilized  society ; 
but,  it  is  the  practical  effect  of  religion  upon  the  spiritual  part 
of  our  being,  its  adaptation  to  our  immortal  nature  that 
renders  it  a  signal  blessing  to  mankind  in  general. 

The  spirit  of  man  sinking  under  the  weight  of  burdens, 
which  accumulate  so  rapidly  in  this  life,  finds  relief  and 
encouragement  from  the  powerful  hopes  and  motives  that 
culminate  around  the  great  central-point  of  Christianity. 
Every  emergency  of  life  is  fully  met,  and  aliment  proportion- 
ate to  the  most  intense  craving  is  abundantly  and  freely 
offered. 

Nothing,  not  even  persecution,  in  its  most  terrible  forms, 
can  hinder  the  effect  of  this  glorious  power.  It  has  been 
said  that  "  never  were  such  exalted  virtues  seen  amoncr 
christians  as  in  those  ages,  when,  in  order  to  worship  the 
Lord  of  light  and  life,  they  were  obliged  to  secrete  them- 
selves in  the  bosom  of  darkness  and  death  to  carry  out  their 
designs." 

It  has  led  multitudes  to  the  stake  and  the  rack,  from 
whence  they  have  ascended,  as  in  triumphal  chariots,  to  the 
fruition  of  the  blessed. 

They  went  straight  from  the  fires  of  earth  to  the  full-orbed 
glories  of  the  celestial  city,  leaving  behind  them  a  glorious 
testimony  to  the  truth,  power  and  beauty  of  that  Christianity 
which  goes  down  with  man  through  the  "  dark  valley,"  and 
plants  his  feet  securely  on  the  further  shore  of  Jordan, 

These  few  pages  allow  only  a  brie.f  glance  at  some  of  the 
benefits  of  the  christian  religion  ;  but,  these  are  sufficient  to 
show  that  she  possesses  all  that  is  beautiful  as  well  as  sublime, 
every  thing  "  that  is  lovely  and  of  good  report,"  and  that  with 


608 


CHRISTIANITY. 


a  comprehensive  beneficence  eminently  her  own,  she  has  im- 
parted to  all  who  have  embraced  her  faith  not  only  the  noblest 
code  of  morality,  not  only  "  the  means  of  grace,  and  the  hope 
of  glory,"  but  the  means  that  have  exalted  and  refined  the 
human  intellect,  and  all  its  various  productions.  Such  a 
religion  is  destined  to  stand.  Heaven  alone  was  adequate  to 
its  production,  and  heaven  stands  pledged  for  its  continuance. 
It  is  to  go  on,  conquering  and  to  conquer,  till  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  become  the  kingdoms  of  Christ,  and  the  echo  of 
salvation  at  one  corner  of  the  globe  shall  awake  its  corres- 
ponding sound  at  the  opposite  extreme. 

Christianity  has  undergone  a  severe  test ;  but,  from  the  trial 
by  which  it  has  been  purified,  it  will  ai'ise  triumphant.  It 
stands  the  test  of  reason ;  and,  the  more  we  examine  it,  the 
more  we  discover  of  its  grandeur. 

Its  mysteries  explain  man  and  nature  ;  its  actions  support 
its  precepts  ;  its  charity,  in  a  thousaiid  forms,  has  succeeded 
the  cruelty  of  the  ancients.  It  has  lost  nothing  of  the  pomp 
of  antiquity,  and  its  ceremonies  give  greater  satisfaction  to 
the  imagination. 

"VVe  are  indebted  to  it  for  every  thing ;  and,  were  we  even 
to  divest  it  of  all  its  supernatural  evidences,  still  it  would 
have  sufficient  left,  in  the  sublimity  of  its  morality,  in  the 
immensity  of  its  benefits,  and  in  the  beauty  of  its  ceremonies, 
to  prove  it  to  be  the  most  Divine  and  the  purest  religion  that 
was  ever  practiced  by  men. 

Destroy  Christianity,  and  the  world  is  undone  ;  cherish  and 
sustain  it,  and,  like  a  wave  of  righteousness,  it  shall  speed 
over  the  world  with  cleansing  power,  to  regenerate  and  save 
an  otherwise  ruined  race. 


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